A Disruptive Technology

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Wi-Fi is a disruptive technology. Disruptive technologies are products or services that, when compared with the mainstream offerings of the dominant competitors, are simple, convenient to use, and inexpensive, and as such they create a new market. Examples of disruptive technologies include cellular phones when compared to wire-line phones; personal computers, which quickly managed to overtake the mainframe computer marketplace; and now wireless networks with their portable devices are taking the place of wired networks with their stationary computers.

Many times a disruptive technology will not initially perform as well as its mainstream competitor, yet because the new technology tends to have specific attributes that are missing from its more established competitors, it finds a following. A good example is the personal computer. The PC, like Wi-Fi, entered the marketplace as a disruptive technology. In the case of the PC, its more established competitors were the established mainframes and minicomputers. The performance of the early PCs offered by upstarts such as Apple and Compaq was limited, and they initially couldn't perform the computing applications that were in use at the time. Yet the cost and convenience of PCs were so compelling that new computing applications (WordPerfect, Microsoft Excel, etc.) quickly developed, to the detriment of established mainframe and minicomputer vendors like Data General, Digital Equipment, IBM, and Wang. Also, PCs' processing power improved so rapidly that they invaded the applications (e.g. database management and data processing) that IBM and others had dominated-and they did so with greater convenience and at a lower cost.

Sound familiar? Originally, considerable lack of enthusiasm existed for Wi-Fi's progenitor, 802.11 (mainly due to its bandwidth limitations), but when 802.11b came along with its relatively speedy 11 Mbps, a market for this disruptive technology quickly followed. Not only did the tech industry glom onto the technology, but so did the buying public. Go to a local Starbucks or McDonalds, and watch customers in their "virtual offices" writing emails, surfing the Web, holding impromptu meetings while they sip on coffee, and munch a snack at five or six bucks a pop.

Wireless networking is in the process of changing not only the way we work, but also how we define our place in the corporate environment. Observe the next meeting in a Wi-Fi-enabled organization-watch how the meeting is conducted, how the meeting is designed to be more interactive, and how information is more easily shared.

Just as PC makers grew by participating in improving technology so that they overtook the minicomputer and mainframe vendors, companies enabling Wi-Fi connectivity are growing at a breathtaking rate due to improved product capabilities. In doing so, these companies have overcome any barriers to this compelling technology.

Although Wi-Fi has been a disruptive technology for a while, the rapid technological improvements being made throughout the entire wireless networking industry are only now beginning to exert pressure on IT departments to adopt Wi-Fi. This pressure is likely to overwhelm companies that fail to move fast enough. Technically astute workers are probably already implementing unofficial wireless networks. You can either fight them or join them.

Whatever the choice, eventually, every business will have to acknowledge the existence of Wi-Fi and its applications. Once businesses accustom themselves to the idea that the disruption wrought by Wi-Fi actually may help them move forward to new levels of productivity and responsiveness, they will clamor for the mobility of wireless networking.



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Going Wi-Fi. A Practical Guide to Planning and Building an 802.11 Network
Going Wi-Fi: A Practical Guide to Planning and Building an 802.11 Network
ISBN: 1578203015
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 273

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