It’s going to be a hot summer. First off, there is “this summer’s hotly anticipated film release, Tomb Raider,” featuring Angelina Jolie and L.M. Ericsson. Jolie plays cyber heroine Lara Croft. “The perfect modern heroine, Lara has brains, beauty, stamina and courage. Living in a world where Bluetooth and mobile Internet prevail, she is further empowered by deft use of mobile communications devices to defeat devious opponents,” so Ericsson says on its Web site. Sounds like Shakespeare 2001.
On the Hill, it’s even hotter for the wireless industry, as legislation that would mandate hands-free cell-phone use winds its way through Congress. Mandatory hands-free use will free up people to eat more Krispy Kremes or gulp another cup of Joe while driving. However, the timing of the legislation stinks because gas is nearing $2 a gallon, so no one can afford to drive around anyway. Is a biking-and-dialing ban on deck?
Meanwhile, over at GAO, federal employees found (shock!) that more research is needed to find out if cell phones are safe or whether they are the devil incarnate. Ear buds are the answer, says superlawyer Peter Angelos, who we likely will hear an earful from this summer.
Another hot issue for industry: towers. Here in Colorado, a local school board is asking Sprint PCS to remove a tower placed near an elementary school-even though school officials believe the tower is perfectly safe-because it is upsetting concerned parents.
In the “This should be hot but it’s not” category: Emergency personnel in Jefferson County, Colo., still cannot communicate with each other two years after the horrific Columbine incident.
Finally, I am in the hot seat myself with two mis-statements of fact in recent Opinion columns. First of all, Edward Armstrong built an RF tower in his front yard, not a cellular tower, as one reader not-so-graciously pointed out. (Sorry, bad habits die hard. I cannot write the word tower without putting the word cellular in front of it.)
Secondly, I got confused on dates and places for CTIA’s Wireless IT show and PCIA’s GlobalXchange show. They are in the same state the same week. I suspect I won’t be the only one. Anyway, go to L.A. for PCIA and San Diego for IT. (Speaking of shows, with so many on this year’s calendar and so few travel budget dollars, location, location, location is going to mean more than just the killer app for the wireless Internet, it may kill several shows.)
Wear sunscreen.
