In the early 2000s, wireless LAN technologies quickly spread throughout the consumer market and eventually spread to enterprises. However, because of security concerns, there grew a patchwork of complex solutions that made it difficult to scale the systems. But to Dr. Vaduvar Bharghavan, this was a big opportunity and he developed centralized wireless LANs. It was a break-through.

Now his company, Meru Networks (MERU), has launched an IPO. The company issued 4.4 million shares at $15 each, which was at the top of its $13-$15 price range.

Hypothesis: Our current computing environment sucks. We buy our own incomprehensively complex and undependable hardware, install a grab-bag of software that conflicts and/or craps out, and spend hours figuring out how to transfer and backup our work. Don't despair though, a better world is just around the corner. That world could be bad news for companies such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), but great news for the likes of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and AT&T (NYSE: T).

What am I talking about? I'm referring to a world in which we would only need to buy a dumb terminal and subscribe to the necessary computing services. The company we choose -- perhaps AT&T or Comcast (NYSE: CMCSA) -- would provide us with broadband wireless connectivity to its servers. From those servers, we could run any software we want, work with others on group projects and store our files remotely. No more data lost to hard drive crashes, no more struggling through software upgrades, no more lugging seven-pound laptops through airports, no more afternoons lost to recalcitrant home networks. No more need for a separate computer, xBox, Tivo, and cable box, either.