WiFi – the wireless 802 B, G, or similar standards have been the first real wireless computing methods to be mostly standard. You can take pretty much any laptop, with any normal wireless car, and access almost any wireless access point. It has been a revolution. Companies like Starbucks and most major US airports have jumped in and put so called “hot-spots” in their locations. Basically, for a fee, you can access the internet while in their buisness.

WiFi’s biggest downfall is it’s short range, often measured in tens of feet rather than hundreds. In some cases, a single wireless access point doesn’t even offer consistant coverage in a regualr single family house. It lacks range, and that lack of range is what limits the success of this standard.

Some companies if the US have started to offer unlimited wirless access via the cell phone style network. This is a real boost, because it makes the net available almost anywhere, and allowed for that can nicely be called “roaming” wireless access. These services can be measured in miles not feet, and this makes it much more usable for the end user.

WiFi may just be one of those standards that, like the “compact” american cars of the early 70s, proves to be a false hope for the future of the net (and likely just as durable).