Imagine it. You have a cell phone but get no bill.

Imagine it. You’re in the middle of nowhere Nevada and you get notified of incoming email from your sister three miles ahead, further into nowhere. (She wants to stop for a picnic).

The day is coming

Your mobile phone (or whatever we’ll call it then) will communicate through any local network it can find from the many in range. And it’ll be able to pick the best one without you even realizing it. (Just like cell phones now pick the best cell tower to communicate through).

In the nearish future bandwidth will be so pervasive it’ll be free or close to it. The number of network access spots is already exploding to the point you can find a connection today just about anywhere but the middle of nowhere.

There is, however, a bandwidth crunch coming. Many are concerned about it. There will be a point where you will watch all your “TV” (or whatever we call it) only over internet based sources, because it’ll be cheaper and easier to produce shows and infinitely more flexible to you. This, however, worries the network current carriers because of bandwidth concerns. But that too will pass as technology for delivering data continues to improve. And since video is the most bandwidth intensive service that’ll we’ll likely need for awhile, once the bandwidth problems of delivering lots of video are past there is little else on the horizon to worry about (until we get to the point of needing to ship around 3-D holograms).

Combine bandwidth with access

Eventually we will reach a point where access and bandwidth are everywhere and free or virtually free. there won’t be a reason to leave the fate of our communication in the hands of the few companies that are providing such poor service today.

The upcoming bandwidth availability will be a significant change in the way we live with information, as it will always be nearby.

Imagine getting into the car and it asking you “where are you heading to today?”. We already have cars that respond with a map when you say “longs”. But what we don’t have (and isn’t that far away) is a car that responds “please remember that Longs was bought out by CVS and its name has changed. Also, although the store is open, you should be aware that the pharmacy is closed. Do you still wish to go?” I wish I had that feature the other day…

Combine online inventory and pricing with instantly updating maps and when you ask your car to take you to buy a good quality socket wrench set, it’ll tell you which streets to turn on, what brand choices are “good quality” these days, what the prices will be when you get there and what isles they’re in for the store it has selected for you that carries them.

Or imagine chatting with your friend over a half-double-decaffeinated-half-calf with a twist about an old friend and wondering what they’re up to and suddenly having your phone pipe up with “Charlie is currently living in L.A. And is working as the senior manager of “Tomorrow Land” in Disneyland. How cool and creepy would that be?

Like any revolution, it’s hard to predict what “the other side” will look like. The shift to the internet meant suddenly having access at home to a wealth of information. But soon, with spreading access ability, we’ll get to the point where it will feel odd not to have access.

Imagine never not having information at your instant beck and call.