A new wireless communications wave is about to break over South Africa, bringing with it an entirely fresh vocabulary that redefines anything from “high-speed” to “hot-spot”. To help guide users of technology through the resulting confusion, a new book on the topic has been released by one of South Africa’s best-selling authors.Arthur Goldstuck, author of the best-selling information technology book of the 1990s, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Internet, has produced a sequel, entitled The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Going Wireless.

While the Internet guide was the definitive handbook that introduced a whole generation of South African readers in the mid-1990s to the prospects and possibilities of the online world, exactly ten years later “Going Wireless” sets out to do the same for the new wave of mobile and wireless technology.

The book is based on exhaustive research into the use of mobile and wireless technologies in South Africa, conducted by Goldstuck’s research organisation, World Wide Worx. The research was backed by First National Bank, Cell C, Sentech and the Mobile Institute.

It also offers practical advice on topics like how to select a cell phone, the etiquette of using cell phones or digital diaries in public or in meetings, how to set up a wireless hotspot and where to find public hotspots across South Africa.

“Ten years ago, the average South African phone user couldn’t imagine becoming an Internet user, and now it is taken for granted,” says Goldstuck. “In the same way, most home Internet users today cannot imagine having their own home wireless hotspot. Yet, a decade from now that will be the standard way of connecting.”

The book is expected to become essential reading for everyone who wishes to remain connected with the modern world of high-speed communications.

Author Detail

Aside from his role as a leading South African journalist over the past 25 years, Arthur Goldstuck is one of Africa’s most respected commentators on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Internet and mobile communications, technologies and possibilities. He regularly provides strategic insights and guidance on trends at conferences and corporate events across Africa.

He has written four books on South African urban legends, and has contributed as a writer to numerous South African and international publications, including The Times of London and Billboard. He was winner of the online category in the Telkom ICT Journalist of the Year awards for 2003, and has been a runner-up in both the Lifestyle and Business categories. He represented South Africa as a judge in the online category of the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2002.

Publication Detail

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