The reading desks, lavishly leather-topped, will be fed books at speed by a computerised retrieval system, and will be equipped for modem and Internet use assets which initially may baffle the older generation of nostalgic pen-pushing scholars.
Perhaps hitting closer to home were the comments of Chairman Joe Barton (R-Tex.), who told Whitacre in his opening comments how he's shutting off service on a phone line coming into his house and planning to use a cable modem for Internet access.
The early-adopter set has been playing with home networking for a few years, but now the technology is spreading to mainstream consumers, who want to split the fast Internet connection of a cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) among several PCs, and also share computer files and peripherals such as printers and scanners.
Earlier this year it launched a network adapter for its PlayStation 2 gaming system that lets customers play against each other over the Internet using either a dial-up modem or a broadband connection.
It's worth noting, though, that all of these PCs had broadband Internet connections--a dial-up modem would likely provide a far less mellifluous conversation.
There's a reason why the Xbox also works as a DVD player and has a hard drive and an Ethernet connection port on the back suitable for cable modem or a digital subscriber line Internet connection.
Featuring a software library of over 650 titles, the system was widely hailed as being ahead of its time, and was the first to introduce online console gaming, with Internet support for games through a built in modem.
ENGADGET: Dreamcast resurrection: classic Sega titles coming to XBLA and PSN later this year
You can do all this even if your Internet connection is a creaky-slow dial-up modem.
Put another way, a normal modem will download a pop song from the Internet in 15 minutes.
This replaces the modem that most people use to surf the internet.
The latest addition to NETGEAR's family of high-speed 802.11ac wireless devices, the D6300 is designed to meet growing customer demand for a highly integrated WiFi ADSL modem router for better and faster wireless on Internet-enabled WiFi devices in the home.
ENGADGET: Netgear D6300 mates 802.11ac WiFi with ADSL, risks one heck of a mismatch
All told, this will give WorldCom more than 500, 000 local modem-access lines, making it the world's largest Internet-service provider.
And while Microsoft currently offers digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet access in conjunction with its MSN online service, it needs a cable modem offering to drive more traffic to all of its Web properties.
Most voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems install on a home computer and require a special modem.
All users within a couple of hundred feet of the base station who have an inexpensive Wi-Fi device in their PCs or PDAs can then share low-cost, high-speed access to the Internet--without having to pay individually for more expensive dedicated DSL or cable modem service.
But video downloads take forever over the Internet--eight hours for a 90-minute film over a well-functioning DSL modem.
Both factors contributed to cementing our confidence that we could not only explore the Internet on our own, but do so quickly and without the screeching sound of a telephone modem.
Applied Micro Technology uses the vertical blanking interval to allow Internet data to piggyback on a television broadcast at up to five times the speed of a standard modem and telephone line.
Jim Pickrell got into the Internet service provider business in 1995, back when dial-up connections ruled the day and a 56k modem was considered fast.
Compaq also announced its new Triple Play broadband Internet access program, which offers customers a choice of three high-speed Net access options: cable modem, DSL, and satellite.
As a bonus, SpeedNet's customers will be able to plug into the Internet at warp speed, using connections that are more than 100 times faster than a dial-up modem.
The FreedomPop Hub Burst modem and router boasts wireless antennas to boost speeds as well as Ethernet jacks to connect up to 10 Internet enabled devices, including desktops, TV's and streaming music and video players.
ENGADGET: FreedomPop brings free wireless internet to the home with Hub Burst modem and router
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