Funk Seoul Brother
Click. "Michael1.mpeg, Gerrard2.mpeg, Michael3.mpeg, Michael4.mpeg, Heskey5.mpeg. BaldGermanBloke1.mpeg.
NO CARRIER
Fade To Grey.
There we are. Done. Got the clips of the goals while out on the move.
But what's this? Tow Keow(n)? What? World Cup 2002 folks, kick offs next summer! Beckham's sarong -- three lions on the skirt? Jules Rimet still gleaming. What a prospect for those screaming, beaming demons in screaming supporter mode. Given recent speculation by pundits about slower 64 kbps rates for 3G, if the techies can get the pipes pushing the data through fast enough, the dream will still be a reality.
And on that field of dreams in Munich and those English theatres of dreams (who needs a new Wembley?), value-add is there for the taking. It's not rocket science. It's unbelievable. Ericsson boosting mobile comms? Huh? No. Not that one, L.M. Ericsson, that stodgy old Scandinavian mobile dinosaur vendor.
We're talking one S.G.Eriksson. Our Sven. Anyway, on one knee. Sir Sven, the only Swede with a knighthood in waiting. Doesn't seem like yesterday does it when Becks was the Devil incarnate for the rash challenge on that Argentinian in France '98. Sent to Coventry, Becks is now the icon of a generation.
Anyway, back to the point. I want to download Michael's goals. I want to see Gerrard's volley from eight different angles, and I'm on holiday in Bali, then east to the land of the rising sun. Can u help me? Sure can, if you've got a swanky new GPRS-cum-3G handset working properly next year in Seoul and Tokyo. Can you imagine it? The 2002 World Cup Finals, right there in Tokyo next summer, home of DoCoMo, FOMA, i-mode, sushi, geisha girls, saki. Where's me passport? It's broadband bliss for soccer suckers. Got no Seoul? Don't worry, we've got Korea and Japan to look forward to, even if North Korea went nuts and started hailing the south, we'd not hear it. From the East to the West, it's a footie fest to make even the most moribund marketing mogadonians march into more brainstorming sessions. No surprise there then really. After all, this is the age of vegetarianism, post-beef butty industrialism, post-brain mangling BSE, post brain-munching RF (my brain hurts).
I do have a serious point to make. Pundits are slating Vodafone for implying we won't see high-speed data rates. What balderdash. Do you think the Japanese are listening to that? Of course not, they're already in full-on R&D mode for 4G. Yes, that's right FOUR G. Fourth generation wireless services. We're talking fibre type rates to the handset.
Even if, and it a massive if, 3G data rates can't be squeezed much higher than 115kbps or 384kbps, that's plenty for some serious MPEG Pro media squashing technology compression. Look at what Fraunhofer MP3 algorithm did for sound file downloads. Now look at DIVx and .wmf. The boffins are trying to cram even more streamable real time media into smaller packets. But for the operators - and content providers -- they're not going to ditch it now.
There's too much riding on it, both user and investor expectations are way too high to give streaming video clips and sound a backseat in the stands. Unlike England's top drawer performance, operators and industry bright sparks are falling over themselves to shoot each other in the foot.
Incidentally, the whole of St. James Park fell silent in tribute to the late great Brian Moore before the match. They should have included Marconi and BT. Make that just Marconi. BT wouldn't deserve the respect.
Suffice it to say, by the time World Cup 2002 rolls around, and Euro 2004 all this hype will be old news. Roll on Greece!
Bottleneck? What bottleneck? Is Gazza and Tony Adams still in the squad? Mark my words. I'm always right.
Interested in this topic? Check out the Streaming Media Europe 2001 Wireless conference track!