We’ve all come across articles and reports over the years that talk about the possible dangers of radio frequency emitting devices on our health. While no studies have found any links between Wi-Fi devices and health issues, the same can’t be said of mobile phones and that got me thinking.
Having read this tidbit of information, are you going to rethink keeping your cell phone in your pockets? I used to sleep with my cell phone next to my bed, needleless to say that I don’t anymore. I put it in the next room. No scientific proof exists of heal issues relating to Wi-Fi devices but the question linger in my mind about my wireless router and its proximity to my daughter’s bed room, could it be a time bomb waiting to happen?
We live in a world where the number of wireless devices far outnumbers humans; a little healthy skepticism is in order from my point of view. Asking what are the possible health effects resulting from regular exposure to low frequency radio wave emitting devices seems to be important when considering that Electrosmog could be a fact of life in a few years.
It would be real shame to have to get rid of my cell phone(s), cordless home phones, baby monitors, wireless router and Bluetooth wireless head sets and mouse, etc. there just too practical.
Reading the thoughts of Geeks on Ice co-founder in the paper last week got me thinking about the IT industry in our province. It’s a safe bet that if we extrapolated on MacAusland’s research of last year and surveyed all the companies in the province, 90% of us would support the creation of an association. How could we be against a virtuous idea right?
But at the same time, one could argue that today many of the various needs that a provincial association could fill are already being met;
We have strong initiatives in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John that fill the need to promote regional advantages/strengths and lobby government from the economic development side of things.
Geeks on Ice is a great networking activity, some Cybersocial’s are still active, new networking events like Third Tuesdays have emerged, new associations and new conferences are slowly taking their place to fill needs in specific segments of the industry (not an exhaustive list for course).
So what true needs would a provincial association fill? Industry promotion, Government lobbying, what? And more importantly what would we do with all the regional initiatives that are already well established?
In a perfect world we would be exploring ways of pulling the KIRA and Rising Stars awards and other provincial based initiatives under one umbrella organization at this time. We would find ways to fold the non for profit regional economic development initiatives specific to our industry (promotion, lobbying, labor, etc..) into the association in the form of sub-comities to maintain regional relevance and participation. We would ensure that no activities are duplicated, that a singular focus with regional consideration exists and that everyone pulls in the same direction… for the good of the industry and the province.
Ok… the likelihood of all of this happening rate’s just slightly above my chances of winning the next 6-49 draw this week. And yet, these steps should all be discussed before starting to talk about a viable provincial association. Collectively, we are no bigger than a small city in our province after all.
The collapse of the NBITA many years ago was not the force that pushed regional interests to take precedence over provincial considerations; filling specific needs and leadership did that.
So a simple question, can the amazing local leadership that’s been demonstrated over the last ten years be focused towards provincial goals? Would everyone be ready to give some to possibly gain more?
Imagine my surprise when over supper last night I saw a report from Radio-Canada about Rogers offering a new high-speed cellular network between Moncton and Halifax. A North American first right here in Atlantic Canada!
Knowing full well the cost of using a data plan with the wireless providers in Canada, the first thought that I had was “this is cool”. This was of course after I hearing the cash registers at Rogers go ka’tching!
So back to the subject of the post, are you going to use video calling and will you be able to afford it? It’s a nifty service for sure and it’s a safe bet that over time it will be indispensable just like email and texting have become. But right now, the data plan costs are much too high compared to other markets.
If we could only get a legitimate iPhone service and affordable data plans in Canada that would allow us to take full advantage of mobile device services I would be the first in line to signup. But that’s not the case and won’t be for a while because of the makeup of the competitive landscape in Canada.
I can just imagine that the new running joke in a few years will be “can you see me now?” all while waiting in line at the bank to get a second mortgage to pay for the data plan.
Over the last two years whenever I have spoken in public or given seminars related to technology I have taken the opportunity to expose the public to the NetNeutrality issue.
At the beginning of all of this, nine times out of ten the initial reaction that I perceive is one that can be compared to the “blinded deer (or moose) in the middle of the road look”, its to technical and fundamental. But these day’s I am noticing a distinct change in people’s knowledge of the subject, they know more about the issue but to them it’s all about “running out of bandwidth”.
Within two years people have gone from not knowing about the issue to having opinions that are completely off the mark. The only explanation that I have for this takes its roots in the amount of news reports that talk of Net Neutrality from a “running out of bandwidth” perspective.
It’s an unfortunate example of how the press has simplified a story so much that it looses its core truths. NetNeutrality is now a casualty, and suffers from journalist’s lack of research initiative and the unfortunate realities that come with having all but 30-60 to talk about a subject in news reports.
People don’t know don’t grasp the importance of the issue and its not a real “sexy” subject so I can understand it doesn’t get a lot of air play, but when you stop and thing about the implications of loosing the Net Neutrality battle it tends to give me nightmares.
While the candidates for the next US presidential elections are talking about it with the right terminology and from the right perspective, the media and politicians here in Canada are only slowly waking up and unfortunately they are signing the wrong tune and marching to the wrong beat.
In my original blog post on this subject I asked what we could do to put NetNeutrality on the table with other election issues. Today, we seem to have take a few big steps back and the real question becomes how do fix the publics perception of the issue?
