From The Editor

When analyzing new technologies, it is always tempting to apply knowledge and perspectives gained from the old way of doing things to the new paradigm. Recalling the early days of the World Wide Web, I can remember statements from high-ranking executives and officials (one particular quote from the chairman of CBS comes to mind...) who believed that static Web publishing would barely affect their current businesses, if at all. Of course, the free market began to spin into action and before you knew it online auctions, streaming media, targeted advertising, and business-to-business extranets sprang to life. I would say there's not an employed Fortune 1000 executive left who doesn't believe that the Web has the potential to affect most facets of their business.

The promise of ubiquitous wireless data access and the ability of these wireless devices to interoperate with each other and the local networks they come into contact with (via technologies such as Bluetooth, Jini, and WAP) lends an air of believability to those who say that the coming wireless boom may dwarf the other technology explosions of the past 25 years (the personal computer, the GUI interface, and the World Wide Web to name three). Wireless access offers a number of unique advantages over these predecessor technologies. Three primary advantages are that it is personal, portable, and pervasive.

A technology can be deemed to be successful when entirely new classes of popular applications that never existed before arise from the implementation of that technology. Wireless data technologies definitely offer this sort of potential through their combination of data/voice transmissions and location information. I don't believe the day is far off when we will purchase everything through some sort of wireless device. Imagine walking through a crowded shopping area and being broadcast sale promotions or discounts based on your personal preferences. Combine this application with software agents that will then scour the Web for better deals and barter with the local business (they do have an advantage in that you're right outside their door!) and commerce as we know it could be changed forever.

Just as in the early days of the Web, old-school businesses still have their heads down trying to generate business and create value for their shareholders and are unable to totally refocus on this new wireless world. (I didn't think the day would come so soon that I'd refer to Web-based businesses as "old-school", but so be it...) Huge opportunities are out there for entrepreneurs and technologists who have the vision to use these new technologies to create new classes of applications or even entirely new industries. Just like the Yahoo!s, Amazon.coms, and eBays of the past decade, new businesses built upon wireless technologies could become de facto industry giants nearly overnight given the projected growth rates of wireless data access. Here are a few companies that you may not have heard of yet, but who I think just might be onto something. If you're working for a startup whose goal is to be the "next big thing", let me know about it!