Useless typing...

I am pumping Gas at the station. And this time it is not the now expected high price per gallon that makes my mind wander.

I am paying by credit card, so I have been asked for a PIN.

I am always amazed about the random security measures I see. In late days, "two factor authentication" or even "three factor" has gained a tremendous momentum and is considered a must for certain applications such as remote network access. You can see the familiar "token card" dangling from peoples lanyards. But two (or three) factor authentication was also a very well known concept in the XVII century. In fact, much before than that, the Romans would already use some form of it. The "three factor" refers to features that can be produced to prove identity:

• Something that only we know
• Something that we possess
  
• Some feature on ourselves that can be shown

We have heard stories where the messenger shows a tattoo or a particular mole on his skin, or maybe shows a medal, a seal or just utters a password.

So it is not a new concept. How do we fail miserably at implementing it sometimes?

I am just ranting about this useless routine of entering my ZIP code at the pump when I swipe my credit card. It says "to prevent credit card fraud you are now required to enter the ZIP code of your billing address". Granted, it is "two-factor" authentication, it is something that is in my possession (the card), and something that I know (the ZIP code). That should make it stronger, Right?

Well, where the intentions fall to the ground is for the "Something that ONLY WE know". Haven't the security gurus at the banks thought about the fact that you usually loose your credit card WITH YOUR WALLET? Yes, where your Driver's License is merrily giving away your ZIP code....

The mobility I want

High Speed Connectivity....Got it
Mobile Data Availability....Got it
Network Security and Privacy....Got it
Data-Voice convergence....Got it
Fixed Mobile Convergence....Got it

So what's next on the list?

It is now common to see business people poking compulsively on their Blackberries or any other mobile device while they wait for a flight or to be called for a meeting. Some seem to try to accelerate time or seem to be hoping that looking at their Blackberries will solve the immediate issue they are facing at a moment. Kids are connected now also, their version comes in a different, hipper device, the SideKick. SideKick's big screen and friendly application software promises a better experience when surfing the web and connecting to an IM service. The übercool have their own device to resort to, long awaited, rumoured and recently released iPhone.

All these devices provide ubiquitous, pervasive connectivity and they are constantly menacing people's "real" lives, transporting them to some other place through the ether. I can foresee individuals suffering from anxiety and being disconnected from reality, all with the help of these devices.

A solution for eliminating or mitigating this should be next in our list.

Have you ever had a personal assistant? or a "Secretary", as they used to be called some time ago?

That is exactly what I would like to have in my mobile device (or hosted somewhere and have it associated to it). A "truly personal" Gatekeeper, a Majordomo that would be capable of separating our personal and business lives and that will enable us,broadband addicts, to devote our undivided attention to whatever requires it at the moment. A piece of software capable of learning from instructions issued over time and to derive a set of rules to be used generally.

It would go something like this:

• I am in a meeting and my associate calls me. My device knows that I am in a meeting, so his call goes directly to my voicemail, and I don't receive a notification until I leave the meeting, which allows me to stay concentrated on the meeting.
• My wife calls minutes later, she has an emergency, has lost one of her credit cards and requires a PIN from me. When she calls, because her number has been highlighted, she gets a message that I am in a meeting, without the need of me picking up the call and she is given the option to "barr in" if it is an emergency. My device starts to ring with a disctinctive tone, I excuse myself, pickup the call and give her the PIN. Back in the meeting.
• The device also alerts me later that my anyversary is coming up in a week. But I did not put in this alarm specifically. The device noticed that next week is going to be an extremely busy week and is "concerned" that I will not be able to get her a gift. It is alerting me both that the anyversary is coming up and that I better get a gift now as I will not be able next week.
• A salesperson calls. The number is not registered in my contacts so the call is diverted to my assistant. She screens the call and figures out what is it about, confers with me, and it happens to be a salesperson of a shop I called to get that gift!, I tell her to transfer the call and she does redirect the call back again to my device.
• Later in the day I am at the gym. My boss calls me. He wants something to be done tomorrow, it is not extremely urgent, but he wants to make sure that he does not forget. So he is given the option to leave a voice mail, he is also given the option of having the voice maildelivered to my email, where I will check it the following day.
• The device starts alerting me now, 5 hours before my flight back home. The device is aware of a traffic congestion that has been reported on the way to the airport and is taking measures to make sure that I get to the Airport in time. It also gives me the option of calling the airline to change my reservation, but is already connected via XML to their system and shows me my options. I decide to take the same flight, si the device reconfirms my seat.
• I return home, we are at a dinner. My email system shuts down and stops notifying about new incoming mail, it also places a message on my IM, saying "In a dinner! - Chat with you later!".
• We go for a vacation on a long weekend. The autoresponder is configured automatically. I am back to work on Wednesday. On my way to work, my device gives me a summary of what happened during the days I was out.

The interesting part would be to build all these rules from our behaviour and how we handle each situation in real-time.

Mobility Nirvana, connected when I can, and focused when I need to. No need for programming, simplicity of use.

iPhone came - Some friends are coming along

So far Apple has experienced a spectacular product success with its iPod line of music players. Apple's statistics indicate that 100 million iPods have been sold. This 29th of June, Apple is releasing its latest creation, the iPhone converged device, the media is all hyped-up about the features, the functionality and the prohjected sales of 10 million of these devices.

The iPhone is a data-centric device, and as such it is being offered with a diversity of Mobile Internet plans, including an All-you-can-eat option.

This is what is really thrilling and disruptive of the iPhone. The instantaneous creation of 10 million mobile Internet users with ubiquitous Internet and with an almost as good experience as on a desktop, laptop or tablet PC.

10 million new users, accessing broadband content on the Internet, whenever, wherever they want. The first impact on this of course is the traffic, a maximum of almost 4000 additional Gigabytes on the network. This might not sound as much considering the enourmous capacities built into todays networks.

The real impact is of business and social nature. The introduction of the telephone, the Internet and -most lately- a high grade of adoption of broadband access have reshaped the business world and the lives of people here in the US and around the world. Business models unthinkable of before, become possible by the adoption of these technologies. Online document delivery, application hosting, such as Google Documents and Spreadsheets, photo printing through the web, Vonage, Skype, and software and video downloads as well as the 99c/song model would not be possible without broadband.

In the same way, the availability (and the assumption of a demographic with the availability) will eventually lead to new business models to be discovered. The exact successful ones are difficult to predict as they require that fortunate factor of being accepted by the public. Mobility is being replaced by pervasiveness.