Brother Blankenhorn suggested that I post this email on The Amateur Hour though has much more to do with his "World of Always On" than amateur content creation. That said:

Dana talked some about how putting a WiFi transciever in every car creates a very interesting mesh network. in his latest A Clue to Internet Commerce newsletter.

I did some similar product strategy work in this direction while at BellSouth (little of which BellSouth did anything with as the recession came along and caused them to retrench in their utility/monopolist mindset), which is simply full of possibilities.

We posited the creation of a mobile mesh network which would start with trucks (antennas and WiFi under the windblockers on the tops of trucks) and B2B apps and later move to cars and consumer applications. A whole batch of interesting things happen in that model including off the top of my head:

• If every door frame of every trailer is a RFID scanner, then every truck is a real time inventory system. Every truck knows it's current location, direction and speed (GPS). Every truck broadcasts it's current inventory (encrypted) to every truck it passes (mesh network + distributed database).


• Every time a truck refuels, it's current database is uploaded at the truck stop (we proposed a patent on an optical waveguide in the fuel nozzle to allow high-bandwidth burst upload/download) and from their into a centralized datastore for pickup by everyone involved (shipper, buyer and carrier).


• Weigh stations become data centers as do loading docs.


• A fleet of trucks and transfer points designed for breaking down and repacking inventory can completely replace warehouses for some types of products. Imagine a UPS driver loading his local truck from a UPS transfer point, picking up pre-printed boxes as the UPS transfer system breaks down and repacks pallet content from an idling semi.


• Now that we have broadband at the pump, we can download movies and music into consumers' cars through the same waveguide. And of course we'll sell those at point of purchase without ever going inside. "Kids driving you crazy? Would you like to rent "finding nemo" for $6".


• Automotive diagnostics can be broadcast and/or uploaded as well. A gas pump could not only sell you a needed oil change but potentially warn you that you will be in violation of your warrantee terms if you don't do it now.


• Email could be uploaded across the mesh network and delivered though voice synthesis in the stereo.