It had to happen sooner or later:
The story here is a partnership between Interactive Taxi and software company PeerDirect, who have created an Internet portal designed for the back seat of a taxi. The press release says that the display will have the feel of a broadband connection but will actually employ data synchronization and database replication to provide fast access to information, even though (if I understand correctly) the connectivity is plain old mobile service.
This bears out one of the predictions I have made: That eventually virtually everyone in the world will become an Internet user. (I hate making predictions, because usually they are either painfully obvious or wrong.) My prediction is that the Internet will become so embedded in the world around us that it will constantly be feeding information and services to us from devices all around us in the environment. Many (maybe even most) people will be Internet users without even being aware of it, because the network itself will become so ubiquitous that it is effectively invisible.
I've given myself a lot of wiggle room by not putting a timeframe on this prediction, but I actually think it could happen pretty quickly.
The release says Interactive Taxi plans an initial deployment in 600 cabs in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco by Feb. 21, 2005.
AB -- 2/7/05
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