T=2sF + 3sB

Technology, equals two steps forward, plus three steps backward.

Sci-fy has been steadily advancing by leaps and bounds well beyond what we have seen on television. It has made so much progress that its no longer fiction but reality. Reminiscent of the classic Star Track television show we are now able to use our cellphone in similar ways as Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. The “Real-Sci” of today, with its much-hyped Siri feature cellphone makes it possible to use voice commands and to have a quasi conversation as seen recently in the “Big Bang Theory” TV  comedy show.
Siri, has been creeping in our daily routine for a while now. Siry is the robotic voce we hear after asking a G.P.S. tracking device directions, or if it will be a sonny day to go to the beach. These  and many other applications are very impressive, when considering that only ten years ago, we were being weaned by the giant phone corporations to give up our cordless telephones.
The basic idea of electronic communication, is constantly on the move and there are lots of profits to be made with the newest and most sparkling innovations. The cellphone / mobile phone / telefonino / cellulare and other foreign descriptive terms, have become the names of the newest world wide toy. With thousands of new applications, sales of cellphones have been skyrocketing even among the less effluents, who have come to view their new toy as a status symbol of equality with the rest of the world.
“You’ve got to have it” promotional ads, are by now well implanted in our thinking process and the cellular industry will give you every gadget you want, for a price. However, applications like Siri’s data-hogging devices are causing problems not only for those who are willing to pay extra for their bandwidth inflated toys, but it affects the other basic cell and data networks users.  Data networks are like any common resource, they have limits, and regardless who is using most shares, once they hit the determined limit,  there’s no more to go around.
As networks become congested, everyone’s service deteriorates. Calls are dropped or never completed. More cell towers will not solve the problem, sooner or later we’ll bump up against the rigid limits of the electromagnetic spectrum – the invisible frequencies over which all electronic communications move.
Much of this difficulty began over the past 15 years when government officials decided to auction to high bidders or given away when radio and TV were the newest consumers’ technologies. By reshuffling the lineup, moving older users (say, over-the-air TV and radio stations and government agencies) to another part of the band in favor of the up-and-coming hot shots will perhaps help temporarily. Of course, this kind of change is disruptive, pitting the haves against the want-mores.
Of late, I have been thinking of investing in more reliable and renewable mode of communication. I have narrowed it down to  three options: a flock of homing pigeons, a new telegraph key, and perhaps the oldest way to communicate among humans, the ever reliable, jungle drum.