Word: bps
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Internet radio transmitter. Your iBook, iMac or G4 PowerMac loaded with an AirPort card can be online (or hooked together) anywhere in your home, without wires, at 56k connection speeds (AirPort also supports superspeedy cable modems or DSL). Since normal wireless connections creep along at 9,600 bps, this is nothing short of revolutionary...
...phone lines promises to replace today's click-and-crawl Internet with point-and-zoom services that instantly paint Web pages on your PC and rapidly download video clips and sound bites. Some cable companies already promise Internet access at speeds as fast as 3 million bits per second (BPS)--50 to 100 times the rate of standard analog phone-line modems. Not to be outdone, telephone companies plan a massive rollout of high-speed digital subscriber lines...
...lucky cybernauts are already plying the online universe at warp speed thanks to cable modems, according to Jupiter Communications, a New York City research firm. That's a tiny few compared with the 27 million Americans plodding along with home-PC modems running at 28,800 to 56,000 BPS. But cable companies are pouring billions into upgrading their networks to handle data traffic over the same wire that brings you ER and championship bass fishing. Tele-Communications Inc., Cox Communications, Comcast and more than a dozen other cable companies offer a high-speed online service called @Home that...
Another way to sate this need for speed is through DSL phone service, which enables your existing phone line to carry data at rates as fast as 1.5 million BPS. That's only half the maximum of many cable services, but DSL gives you "dedicated" bandwidth. Cable systems make you share bandwidth with other subscribers in your neighborhood, and things may bog down if you all go online after dinner. As with cable, DSL lets you stay "always on" the Internet since a single digital line can handle voice and data calls simultaneously...
There is a wild card in the Internet deck too: wireless services. Hughes Network Systems sells DirecPC and DirecDuo dishes (the latter with both Web and TV reception) that can download Web pages at a relatively brisk 200,000 to 400,000 BPS. Last month Loral's CyberStar unit joined the fray with a satellite system of its own. Both are more expensive than cable and DSL (monthly fees can run more than $100 for unlimited use), but satellite dishes can be used almost anywhere, including vacation cabins and other rural locations. Several companies are also experimenting with a ground...