New Technology Reviews!.: rossrubin

Switched On: Techonciliation

<em>Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.<br/></em><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="180" hspace="4" src="http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/227/4311webtv2.jpg" style="margin: 4px;" vspace="4" width="350" /></div><br/><blockquote>"Don't throw the past away. You might need it some rainy day."<br/><br/>-Peter Allen, from the song "Everything Old Is New Again"</blockquote><br/>During the late '90s and early '00s, the hype bubble grew large about a number of ideas that never reached critical mass. WebTV was going to democratize the Internet, but it devolved into a market niche after being acquired by Microsoft. WiFi providers such as MobileStar and later Cometa Networks hoped to build vast WiFi networks that would compete with cellular plans. Those bubbles popped back in the day, but curiously, companies are now willing to pump some energy back into them. The question is whether they are in any better position to float this time around.