History of WiFi
Remember how Alan Baker claimed the COLSA computers were not Army computers? Remember his claims that COLSA was only leasing computer time to the Army? Alan Baker is wrong... AGAIN! "We actually found...
Just in case you think Apple had no significance in the adoption of WiFi.
Why do you keep denying this? You know as well as I do that the posts remain in...
The fragmented market meant it took a long time for the various vendors to agree on definitions and draw up a standard acceptable to 75% of the committee members. Finally, in 1997, the committee agreed on a basic specification. It allowed for a data-transfer rate of two megabits per second, using either of two spread-spectrum technologies, frequency hopping or direct-sequence transmission. (The first avoids interference from other signals by jumping between radio frequencies; the second spreads the signal out over a wide band of frequencies.)
The new standard was published in 1997, and engineers immediately began working on prototype equipment to comply with it. Two variants, called 802.11b (which operates in the 2.4GHz band) and 802.11a (which operates in the 5.8GHz band), were ratified in December 1999 and January 2000 respectively. 802.11b was developed primarily by Richard van Nee of Lucent and Mark Webster of Intersil (then Harris Semiconductor).
Companies began building 802.11b-compatible devices. But the specification was so long and complexÑit filled 400 pagesÑthat compatibility problems persisted. So in August 1999, six companiesÑIntersil, 3Com, Nokia, Aironet (since purchased by Cisco), Symbol and Lucent (which has since spun off its components division to form Agere Systems)Ñgot together to create the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA).
WHY? Why single out Apple for this expectation? It isn't as though a $1000 computer is...
ÒWi-Fi's ultimate significance may be that it provides a glimpse of what will be possible with future wireless technologiesÓ
The technology had been standardised; it had a name; now Wi-Fi needed a market champion, and it found one in Apple, a computer-maker renowned for innovation. The company told Lucent that, if it could make an adapter for under $100, Apple would incorporate a Wi-Fi slot into all its laptops. Lucent delivered, and in July 1999 Apple introduced Wi-Fi as an option on its new iBook computers, under the brand name AirPort. ÒAnd that completely changed the map for wireless networking,Ó says Greg Raleigh of Airgo, a wireless start-up based in Palo Alto, California. Other computer-makers quickly followed suit. Wi-Fi caught on with consumers just as corporate technology spending dried up in 2001."
-- Regards, JimP "The measure of a man is what he will do while expecting that he will get nothing in return!"