Press Release 2022
Middletown, NJ, April 1, 2022/PN Newswire/– Wireless 5G networks are here to stay, bringing advances in data speeds and reduced latencies in modern wireless networks. But the 5G Mobile Network operators have struggled to monetize these technological advances. Wireless service revenues remain flat even with investments of hundreds of billions of dollars to capitalize these enhanced networks. For years, the most data intensive application running on 5G networks was SpeedTest, used to show off the high speeds and relatively low latencies that 5G networks can provide.
Interestingly, the maker of SpeedTest, Ookla, points out that the speeds on the average 5G network have slowed down as more users buy 5G capable phones and begin loading traffic on 5G networks, and new networks are deployed in less developed areas. (See, “Growing and Slowing: The State of 5G Worldwide in 2021,” at https://www.ookla.com/articles/state-of-worldwide-5g-2021).
In 2019, Dr. Ling Zhipei of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, remotely performed brain surgery on a patient with Parkinson’s disease via wireless 5G technology, as a demonstration of the throughput and low latency of modern mobile networks (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201903/18/WS5c8f0528a3106c65c34ef2b6.html). However, such surgeries are not popular for some reason and haven’t contributed much demand for 5G networks.
There have been many other proposed applications for 5G networks including Edge Computing, connected cars, and multi-player games. Others have suggested that 5G’s killer app will be supporting communications among industrial robots. (https://techblog.comsoc.org/2021/10/27/ibm-says-5g-killer-app-is-robotics-connectivity-edge-computing-with-private-5g/) But robots have very little available cash to pay for such service.
But after extensive research and alert observation during the recent years of pandemic and changing family dynamics, Stephen Wilkus of Spectrum Financial Consulting, has recognized the pressing need for supporting a growing problem in society, a problem that 5G was made to solve and a problem made worse in the pandemic years.
The birthrate fell during the Covid-19 pandemic, even more than the general global trend toward smaller families. In the US there was a 2% year over year decline in births from the first half of 2021 and 2020, and a 9% decrease from January 2020 to January 2021. Historically and globally, pandemics and economic recessions suppress fertility rates. (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.578438/full)
At the beginning of the pandemic, some thought that lockdowns would cause a baby boom, but global economic insecurity had the opposite effect on birthrates (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-pandemic-caused-a-baby-bust-not-a-boom/). The Brookings Institute estimates that 300,000 babies were not born in the US as a result.
How can we marshal the technical capabilities of 5G to ease the burdens of child rearing and make it easier for couples to care for their children and share the “joy” of parenthood? The answer is wireless babysitting, the killer app for 5G.
The idea came to Mr. Wilkus when learning that his new grandchild was being babysat by a local sitter when he was perfectly willing to stare at his new granddaughter through a Zoom connection without charging for it. Amazingly, Zoom and WhatsApp and other similar videophone applications don’t charge anything for the service either, with or without 5G!
From firsthand experience, it’s clear that grandparents would be willing to pay considerably to take on babysitting tasks, freeing their children to relax, have fun and make more. With 5G equipped baby monitors, grandparents can watch their grandchild with 4K resolution video, complete with quality low-light mode and superb sound (thanks to the volume controls). This modern way of babysitting has the advantage that certain unpleasant smells are not involved, and, as long as the baby doesn’t try to lick the camera of the baby monitor or webcam, there is a high-quality audio-video feed. With a smartphone or tablet, the baby can see and hear the grandparents, adding in the bonding that’s been made so difficult during these pandemic lockdowns. With multiple windows, the service can support multiple babies at one time.
In cooperation with Amazon's AWS, Natal Functions Virtualization (NFV) will support the pairing of baby bots to senior sitters.
This works globally reaching countries that might be home to especially exceptional grandchildren such as New Zealand, where border restrictions (based on a wise concern for spreading Covid-19) have not allowed for entry of international travelers, as a one grumpy granddad pointed out.
The common, but unwarranted, health concerns about exposure to 5G radio waves is nothing compared to the valid concerns about a babysitter that can do nothing to provide first aid to a distant baby, so a remote-controlled robot is in order, commanded over a 5G wireless connection, of course.
This new application is being made available today, April 1, 2022, to help fools everywhere enjoy their distant family members with a sense of humor on this April Fools Day.
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About Spectrum Financial Consulting, (https://www.spectrumfinancialconsulting.net/blog)
Spectrum Financial Consulting, LLC and principal Stephen Wilkus have been distributing April Fool’s Day press releases such as this since 2010, poking fun at wireless hype and sharing a few observations about the issues of the times. Spectrum Financial Consulting celebrates the progress and utility of wireless technology and hopes that you enjoy our April Fools’ Day humor highlighting (and comically extrapolating) that progress. The CoVid-19 Pandemic is disastrous and dark. We extend our sympathies to any who find our humor untimely or inappropriate.###