Developing Practical Wireless Applications

80 Developing Practical Wireless Applications

elaborate on the everyday facts. For this narrative we shall place in our context David

and Louise; they are a semi-professional couple that have a one-year-old daughter,

Daisy. The basic premise of this tale is to discover how David and Louise might inter-

act with technology within their home, which is intrinsically wireless-enabled and

connected to a wider fixed infrastructure, and how they might interact with technology

away from the home – at work, for instance. Similarly, we need to avoid a sense of

“I’m trying to make my wireless connection work,” Patrick Stewart, Eleventh Hour, 2006,

ITV1, United Kingdom, and the seemingly confident finger movements across a

keypad where, as if by magic, the connection is established. Instead we focus here

upon a second nature where the technology itself knows how it should work, some-

thing along the lines of self-awareness and self-configuration. Indeed, you may also be

somewhat bemused as to why a chapter such as this exists within a technical book.

Arguably, if you finish this chapter and conclude that this was a story of a young

couple and their daughter who unobtrusively interacted with a number of wireless-

enabled products, then the author has indeed achieved his objective: technology

should remain supportive and incidental, and this story describes one case study of how

this might be achieved. Think of this chapter as means of shaping your perception

about wireless technology and perhaps refocusing how it should be received by others

(our consumers). If you like, take it as a template or blueprint that may be used over

time, allowing it to evolve into a more valuable and complete reference.

In Technology we Trust

It’s 6:00am: the alarm goes off – nothing particularly wireless about this event, but

indeed David and Louise wrestle in bed much to their discomfort in the realization

that it’s morning. In an habitual routine, David hits the snooze button to capture an

extra ten minutes and, as we can all recognize, inwardly mutters “that wasn’t ten min-

utes, surely?” when it goes off again. Dutifully, David enters the shower and Louise

attends to their daughter and carries her downstairs to make the coffee. David isn’t

much of a morning person and takes the opportunity to shower in order to ultimately

wake up. Louise, on the other hand, has instinctively performed the role of mother

since she left her high-profile marketing executive position in New York two years ago

and attends to her daughter, who is naturally delighted to see her. Daisy was moni-

tored for the duration of her sleep by a device that is wireless-enabled; a product that

can be purchased from any store. In David and Louise’s home they have an integral

audio system that supports playback from audio devices such as the HiFi, MP3 player,

telephone and TV. Each room has a speaker system installed allowing them to hear

music or TV in any room. Additionally, a wireless baby monitor joins the list of audio

devices where David and Louise can hear the slightest movement from Daisy’s bedroom.