Brave New Unwired World: The Digital Big Bang and the Infinite Internet

We're on the verge of ubiquitous connectivity, says technowizard Alex Lightman. His Brave New Unwired World: The Digital Big Bang and the Infinite Internet might read like science fiction, but smart money is betting on his predictions of wearable computing devices and cheap-as-water wireless bandwidth coming true. Even those who don't stand to make a gigabuck or two off fourth-generation wireless tech will race through Lightman's prose with abandon. He makes the future sound fun. While he can't promise personal jetpacks, his descriptions of simple, elegant communicators will make every red-blooded nerd drool.

Brave New Unwired World is more than just next year's Sharper Image catalog, though. Lightman has been watching trends in commerce, government, and technical research, and points out things to watch for in the first decade of the 21st century. American dollars, European regulators, and Asian factories, he predicts, will combine to change the world yet again. It's a fair bet that Aldous Huxley didn't see Brave New Unwired World coming, but we can be thankful that Dr. Lightman did. --Rob Lightner