P.S. I can think of some partial answers; for example, if there is
high-speed internet access in my hotel, and assuming it is reasonably
priced, I might want to use it in the morning before I go down to the
terminal room.
[...]
But wait a moment; if the laptop is frequently appearing and
disappearing off the network, I wouldn't want it to be an SMTP
receiver anyway,
Try this one: while in your hotel room, you see there's something you need
to download. By the time you get dressed, it's still coming down; and you
have to go to a meeting. If you're using Mobile IP, you may be able to
move from one network to another before the TCP connection dies.
Granted, in most of the hotels we use, you probably can't move that fast.
The same applies in other scenarios, though. You're at the airport; you
start downloading over a GPRS link; when it turns out to be too big, you
decide to go to a Laptop Lane. Laptop Lane also charges by the minute,
though, so you don't want to throw away what you've already got.
(Yes, in the specific case of FTP and HTTP downloads, the application
layer may include support for resuming the download. Not all application
protocols can be designed this way, though.)
/========================================================\
|John Stracke |Principal Engineer |
|jstracke(_at_)incentivesystems(_dot_)com |Incentive Systems, Inc.|
|http://www.incentivesystems.com |My opinions are my own.|
|========================================================|
|If at first you don't succeed, don't go skydiving. |
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