Our ubiquitous data connectivity is a great thing. We don’t appreciate just how useful it is, and how much we depend on it, until we arrive in a place where it does not work. We had an issue with cellular access on our last trip to Canada. This has caused me to think about data connectivity experiences I have ad over the years.

Canada (2016)

While we were very late in acquiring smartphones, we use this connection all the time. Due to various changes in agreements between cellular companies, we did not coverage in Canada on our recent trip. We were back to finding open Wifi networks to use. Luckily, the service centers on the 401 had Wifi available that mostly worked.

Northern Plains (2015)

Our wireless data provider doesn’t have coverage in the Northern Plains. Our agreement allows roaming for voice and messages, but not for data. This required finding a Mifi, or cellular hotspot, device that worked in this area. Even with the new device, there were places with no coverage at all.

Mississippi (2005)

After Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I was part of the recovery effort. When I arrived, there were no phones, no cellular coverage, unstable power, and unsafe water. Shortly after I arrived, there started to be some cellular coverage as they got towers back in service. As part of the support offered to folks who were displaced, most of the people in the shelters had cell phones. This led to the working towers getting saturated immediately after they became available. Our team was using Amateur Radio for our internal communications. While I could not make a call, I was able to connect using cellular packet data which used available time on the control channel. This was slow (roughly 600 bits per second), but I could use it to access my online account using a text-based connection and read mail using a text-based program.

Down Under (1999)

During our vacation in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji; my wife and I were able to stay in contact back home through the use of Internet Cafes. They were all over and allowed the use a computer and its connection to Internet. Most also served coffee, tea, and similar fair. Some were clearly a coffee shop that had installed a couple computers in the back and sold their use as another service. This connection allowed us to get a request to represent an award nominee at a convention we were attending later that month. We were able to agree to be the representative and have time to find appropriate clothes as we had not expected to need the more formal wear.

Mississippi (1987)

While I was in training as a repair technician at Keesler Air Force Base, I bought my first computer. The only phones we had were payphones in the day room in the barracks. These took a dime, had a rotary dial, and a short cord on the handset. When I wanted to connect to a BBS, I would take the coffee table from the day room to my room. I would put my computer on the table. Once someone came down the hall, I would get their help to move the table back to the day room under the payphone. I would pay my dime, dial my number, and wait for the screech that as the start-up signal for the BBS modem. I would then place the handset in the cups of the acoustic coupler I had attached to the computer,

I have watched normal data access go from 300 bits per second to over 30 million bits per second in the last 30 years. Wireless data wasn’t widely available until well into the 90s and we now have wireless speeds over a million bits per second.