Security after the fact

We're going to see a huge boom in computer-based home security devices but, heartening though this story is, the burglary still went ahead.

Like CCTV cameras, home security devices are only good for catching the criminals after the act, not stopping the problems before they occur. You could argue that there's no way to catch a criminal before they act but good door locks would make it harder for them in the first place.

Then again, this kind of evidence is just what the police are looking for. It's difficult for the criminal to deny the crime if his mug is emblazoned across the camera.

Now it's time to use this wireless technology in other ways. Riot police can smash cameras but if the data has already been sent the evidence will still convict them. Wireless links can spread information outside the control of a repressive regime.

William Gibson once said that the street finds its own uses for technology, and he was right.