The Internet almost got it right, but is not fit for Nomadic Computing yet

The Internet almost got it right. It is not possible to plug-in any device yet and it is certainly not invisible. Currently we are desk bound. We need a computer, we need a network connection and, perhaps most importantly, we need a network administrator. You know what you miss when you are going on travel. Your network speed drops to a dial-up connection, and with no network guru to help you, it is almost impossible to get connected to a fast network, even when it may be available. As an example take the conference venue at Heidelberg. The organisers did put much effort in getting a wireless network up and running and getting a number of machines hooked up to the Internet to those not having a laptop with wireless Ethernet. Several people where working almost around the clock in helping the 350+ participants in being able to access there e-mail, surf to web sites, down- and upload stuff and doing all the other things they normally use the Internet for. However, conference sites like the Heidelberg SC2001 venues are oases in the desert that a Nomadic Internet user is entering once he leaves his desk top at his office.

Nomadic computing is, according to Kleinrock, the next step after Internet computing. Further away he sees the third (and final?) step: Smart Spaces.

Nomadic computing means travelling from your office to another from your office to another location and still having access to your full location and still having access to your full set of Internet resources. Smart Spaces means moving the Internet into your physical world.

So the goal of Nomadic Computing is to enhance the next generation Internet so that users so that users will gain ubiquitous access and service transparently

The key-word here is transparent: Transparent in relation to context, location, communication device/bandwidth, computing platform, application, disconnectedness/deferred operation, and motion

Nomadic Computing has to take away all the difficult network stuff, so all happens automatically: You should be able, for instance, to even upgrade your network connection to get a file that you are currently downloading

quicker, without disruption. Nomads, of course, do not want to be hindered by size or weight of the device they carry or by the battery life of their machine. Loss, theft and damage or also more likely to occur during your Nomadic Life than when living behind the desk top.

In traditional computing, everything concerning the network is relatively fixed. Radical changes in bandwidth or latency, disconnection or deferred operations, lead to system failures. In Nomadic Computing this is, however, the usual case. A lot of work has to be done here. For instance, application and network protocols have to be improved, server delay problems have to be solved, and many more.

A lot of intelligence must be build into the Internet before a Nomad can roam around freely, without worries. According to Kleinrock, the right place to put this intelligence is right at the edge of the Internet, the place where a Nomad contacts the Internet. You cannot place it in the core of the Internet, because to much data must then be handled there. You cannot place it at the client, as that should be kept as skinny as possible. The edge is the right place, because there the last mile meets the Internet backbone. It is the pace where access providers meet service and end-users meet broad band content. The edge is where the end users meets the managed infrastructure of the Internet.

When we can connect to the Internet anywhere, anyplace, seamlessly, then that is it? We are happy Nomads, and the technology is finished? Not if we believe Kleinrock. After Nomadic Computing, he sees Smart Spaces. The Internet will invade the real world. We will carry thousands of intelligent devices on our body, connected in a body net, and all the rooms, vehicles and places where we are will be filled with devices that interact with our body net. Our environment will be alive as it reacts on what we do.