McDonald's Wireless Play
Anyone who was doubting the increasing reach of Wi-Fi should
note that the push to install hot spots now
includes McDonald's (AP) fast-food
restaurants. The announcement is timed to coincide with Intel's
massive new campaign (Cnet) to make
wireless a core part of computing. It's yet more evidence of an
unstoppable trend.
The pace of innovation in the Wi-Fi arena continues to surge. I've seen
products and have been told of upcoming products that will embed the
technology much more thoroughly in coming months.
The big question is whether we could end up with too much of a good
thing. Wi-Fi interference is a serious issue, because with no controls on
how the spectrum is used, more powerful radios could interfere with other
people's signals.
Security is also a continuing problem despite the (so far empty)
assurances by the industry that it can fix this soon. New standards
should emerge one of these days to make wireless more secure, but this
transition isn't likely to go smoothly.
But Wi-Fi continues to push into everything, much more quickly than even
the most optimistic predictions. Watch out...
� posted by Dan Gillmor 06:41
AM
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