If there's a form of technology that has managed to change and adapt quicker than people thought it would, it's definitely the internet. The different steps forward in getting online have happened rapidly, and even faster than the development of computers in many instances. Today if you're in any major city, it is commonplace to see people sending emails via their cell phones or even checking websites via their portable music players. This is because more and more companies understand the need for reliable data transfer, and now it is possible for a lot of people to do more from their smartphones than their laptops when it comes to finding the right signal.

But the internet was not always something that offered wireless options, and that is important to remember when looking at the ways in which it has grown and matured. Long before the days of wireless internet, the only option people had for connecting to the world wide web were through sitting at a desktop computer. Here, you had either a cable modem or even a dial-up modem, which connected through your regular phone line. These different modems made it possible to send and receive information through a computer, but only when the proper cord was plugged in. Thus, you could definitely get online at home without any trouble, but being able to use your laptop out of the house was out of the question.

Of course, the next big step in the internet was realizing how much better it would be for people to be able to get online from other locations. And people were very happy with the development of wireless internet through Wi-Fi connections, which depended on a router to bounce the signal from a single modem to multiple computers. You could set it up in an office for the whole staff to be online, provide internet access for guests at a hotel, or even get more people to come to your cafe because you provided wireless. And while this network was sometimes slow or unreliable because the signal was not meant to stretch more than a few feet, it managed to work well enough to keep people happy.

This was, of course, before it was possible to get the internet on your cell phone. This advancement in getting online led to people being wired no matter where they were, and it also left questions for those with laptops. Why wasn't it possible to be online from anywhere with a laptop, after all? It is a machine designed for the internet, while a cell phone is definitely not.

With the introduction of WiMAX, though, all of the technology that brings people phone calls and email opportunities on mobile phones is now available for those with laptops. Because the network operates in the same way that cell phone networks do, there is no reason to set up or configure your connection every place you go. There is also not a reason to search for areas with Wi-Fi, because your computer is now the source for the network, not an external object like a router.

What this actually means is that it is now possible to be online with a solid and speedy connection, no matter where you are. This means a lot of both business and leisure, as being connected has started to become a crucial aspect of life, no matter where you happen to be headed, or what the reasons you want to access the internet happen to be. Finally, wireless is actually entirely wireless, without any stipulations or concerns.