Wireless Fidelity

‘WITH THE POWER TO CHANGE EVERYTHING’: A REVOLUTION YET AGAIN

An essay in Communication Environments, Master of Arts in Communication, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. 2003.

This time it is not wires but the air between them that is being transformed. Over the past three years, a wireless technology has arrived with the power to totally change the game. It's a way to give the Internet wing without licenses, permission, or even fees. In a world where we've been conditioned to wait for cell phone carriers to bring us the future, this anarchy of the airwaves is as liberating as the first PCs - a street-level uprising with the power to change everything. (Anderson, 2003)

The title of this essay plays on Sandy Kyrish’ title; ‘Here comes the revolution – again’ (1994). Kyrish evaluates the predictions for the information superhighway (broadband) in relation to the almost similar predictions for the cable TV. Now the next big revolutionary predictions are regarding wireless Internet. We are all getting used to wireless ‘gadgets’ in our daily lives, like remote controls and mobile phones. We are starting to take these for granted. Now wireless solutions for Internet access is the new ‘black’ in ‘tech fashion’. It’s amazing how mobile and wireless have come to dominate the telecommunication landscape in a very short period of time. (CUTLER, T. 2003. Eye On The Future. Telecommunications Journal of Australia. Volume 53, no.2.) It’s easy to confuse the mobile technology for Internet-access and the Wi-Fi technology. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology for the portable personal computer. Wi-Fi, short for wireless fidelity, makes it possible to access Internet on laptop PC’s without the hassle of wires when the user is in range of a base station (also called access point or ‘Hot Spot’). These base stations can be installed by anyone anywhere, like a business area, a school campus or a neighbourhood. Being much cheaper and more powerful than any mobile phone internet connection it is easy to see the possibilities. At the moment, most predictions for the Wi-Fi future are ecstatic.

In this paper I will discuss the predictions for ‘wireless fidelity’ as the new telecommunication infrastructure. I start with a discussion of the many predictions concerning Wi-Fi, especially in relation to Kyrish’s conclusions. Next I analyse Wi-Fi as a disruptive technology, before discussing how Norman’s information appliances and Wi-Fi can be an advantage to each other. Through these discussions I hope to show that Wi-Fi can be a valuable new addition to already established infrastructure and might just be the next disruptive technology, but not necessarily a revolution ‘that will change everything’.

For my research I used the online databases at the library at Swinburne University of Technology, an interview with ITS (Information Technology Services) at the same university, as well as online magazines and resources. There is an abundance of information about Wi-Fi online, and my selection may be random or unbalanced. I have however tried my best to get a balanced list of references. Some of my sources are press-releases from the wireless industry itself, and these need to be interpreted in light of these companies commercial interests. I will use the current situation in Melbourne and at Swinburne as a small case study.

The count on ‘hot spots’ online showed that Melbourne has become the Wi-Fi capital in Australia, and the country itself is nr.6 on Intel’s top ten hotspot-lists in November 2003. (Intel, 2003) USA is on top with 10859 hotspots. There are currently 452 hotspots in Australia, 324 in the state of Victoria and of those are 228 in Melbourne. (Sydney has 77 hotspots) Hotspots are now popping up at coffee shops, cafes, hotels, airports and university campuses .

Wi-Fi is becoming important for universities in the hunt for the best students . Richard Constantine, director of ITS at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, says the main reason to roll out Wi-Fi networks is to provide a greater student experience and boost the University’s appeal. Swinburne aims to be the leading Wi-Fi University in the Asia-Pacific region. (NELSON, D. 2003. Setting the Wi-Fi course. The Age, September 16. )

The pilot started last year has been a success, says Constantine. With 40 base stations around main campus and 20 laptops for students to let at the university library, the numbers of users are now up to a few hundred. By the end of 2003 Swinburne will have 200 base stations at Hawthorn campus – enough for complete coverage. (Personal communication, November 4, 2003).

Wireless access allows students to work online in groups anywhere within the campus. ITS is expanding the study of Wi-Fi by cooperating with the academics to look more closely at the benefits, for instance if it improves the grades for the students. In the pilot 72 percent of the students involved said the technology actually improved their ability to study, encouraging collaborative work and the use of the computer. (Nelson, 2003) Wireless Internet access will become more and more of an alternative for the students according to Constantine;
Wi-Fi is complementary at the moment, but it will change. At campus we will get areas with wireless internet access only. In time the wired internet access [pc-labs] will decrease while wireless will increase. Speed will be a lot faster when we upgrade from 11 MB to 54 MB within the next six months. (Personal communication, November 4, 2003)

The students have to authenticate with a VPN (Virtual Private Network) concentrator to ensure security when logging on. Constantine says nothing is bullet-proof, but that this is as good as the ‘wired’ security. He says that one third of the current students have laptops. Swinburne is also offering a wireless phone service that with the aid of headphones and laptops enables students to call their students for free within the campus area. (Personal communication) The staff will of course also use this service, and ITS expect significant savings from this. (Nelson, 2003) When calling to a number outside the area it will cost the same as a landline to landline call. The only problem ITS had with Wi-Fi was some initial drop-outs caused by the software, but this has been resolved. (Personal communication)

These numbers are surely encouraging, and they seem to be fulfilling the predictions about Wi-Fi that are easily found in specialized magazines as well as in the daily news. Most of these predictions are highly optimistic, you can smell the enthusiasm trough the many adjectives. A revolution yet again? The quote from the beginning of this essay is from Wired.com, and the article starts thus: The wireless Internet has arrived - and now the sky's the limit. It is a moment that echoes the birth of the Internet in the mid-'70s… (Anderson, 2003) It is safe to say that predictions about Wi-Fi have taken off recently, and most of them are from this year, 2003. The term ‘revolution’ is often used.

The technology is Wi-Fi, and it's the first blast in a revolution, called open spectrum, that will drive the Internet to the next stage in its colonization of the globe. Like the Net itself, Wi-Fi was confined to technical circles for years before exploding into the mainstream, seemingly out of nowhere. Over the past two years, it's become one of the fastest-growing electronics technologies in history. (Anderson, 2003)

We are on the brink of tech's next golden age, when Moore's law, broadband wireless, and nanotech will converge to create the Embedded Revolution. Combine a few thousand hungry new companies, top talent to run them, and VCs eager to back them, and we'll find ourselves in a wave of change that'll dwarf even the last one. (Malone, 2003)

Let’s go back to Kyrish (1994). She reminds us how cable TV was predicted to eliminate much physical travel and bring education, work and healthcare into the home, be of great benefit to working class viewers and cause dramatic social benefits. The latter by improving decaying social structures and enhance democratic processes and give better educated citizens. Cable TV did not fail as a communication service, but it is surely a disappointment if we compare reality and predictions, Kyrish says. Broadband, the ‘superhighway’, was also predicted to be a revolution.

The great high-speed wires would fill the homes with fantastic cultural offerings, restructure central social institutions, weaken or replace traditional shopping methods, increase worker productivity and reduce pollution. It would also enhance individualism and creativity over mass culture. Citizens would fulfil their intellectual, emotional and practical interests without leaving home, Kyrish found.

I will not evaluate how broadband have lived up to its predictions, but at a first glance one could say, sure, to some extent, it has happened . Not in the scale that was envisioned, though. We are i.e. still polluting the air driving to work, driving to the shop, or the doctor’s office. However, Kyrish did find interesting similarities in the predictions of the two; it was to make a more perfect world as well as become central and transform society. Such ‘autonomous technologies’ are sometimes falsely abstracted from their social and cultural context, Kyrish says.

Some of the predictions for Wi-Fi are general and vague, others are more specific, saying that Wi-Fi will be a universal standard, found in all kinds of communication gadgets and used by 99 million people by 2006 . (Anderson, 2003) One can read about a predicted 120,000 hot spots by 2007 against a current approximation of 20,000 worldwide , providing a low-cost or free broadband access for the users. (Farber, 2003) A survey interviewing about 500 business travellers, reports that most of them see Wi-Fi as vital for the future of their firm, and concluded that by 2010, wires would be a distant memory . (GARCIA, B.E. 2003. Intel, T-Mobile, Others Sponsor Event to Promote Wireless Internet Access. The Miami Herald Knight Ridder/ Tribune Business News, Sept. 25.) Also; Wi-Fi will mean a growth of multiplayer games, be normal in people’s homes and will give interactive TV a new meaning. (Jager, 2003) Once Wi-Fi is reasonably well established, it will change the way we think about the world. In particular it will change the way we think about control processes. (Jager) Conferences will take place spontaneously, no matter where the participants are. Phones may look like Star Trek badges pinned to clothes. (Stone, 2003) One sees the possibility for wireless technologies to shorten the ‘digital divide’ between haves and have-nots because of the opportunities this offers in urban centres. (MORSE, S. 2003. Internet for all. Telephony, July 14. Vol. 243.) All of these predictions are more than hinting at Wi-Fi as the next disruptive technology, and a research firm in the US supports this.

It is easy to at first compare these predictions with the old predictions about cable-TV and broadband Internet. If I am to exchange the words ‘fibre optic cabling’ and ‘broadband’ with Wi-Fi in the conclusion in Kyrish’ paper, this would be the result: In itself, Wi-Fi is not ‘revolutionary’; its powers and capabilities stem only from its use by society and Wi-Fi predictions that incorporate... unusually revolutionary or utopian possibilities will likely fail. This is however too easy a comparison. A disruptive technology is one that significantly changes the way people and systems operate (Wi-Fi Planet), but Wi-Fi can be disruptive without fulfilling all these predictions. Disruptive technologies challenge existing technology. In Wi-Fi’s case this would be the wired broadband infrastructure to Internet access (the new 3G mobile phone technology is currently more of a competitor). Any infrastructure, once in place, is hard to budge because of conversion costs, and it might not matter that the new solution is technically better than the old. (NORMAN, D.A. 1998. The Invisible Computer. Why Good Products Can Fail, The Personal Computer Is So Complex and the Information Appliances Are The Solution) Is Wi-Fi challenging it? Yes, but not necessarily in order to replace it, the only problem with having both is a bigger cost. Wi-Fi is designed to coexist with the wired networks rather than replace them. (Wi-Fi Planet) This is both a strength and a weakness for Wi-Fi since it makes it easier to gain a foothold in the market, but at the same time might make it difficult to become the leading technology. A disruptive technology is at first underpowered compared to the competition (broadband access is still faster than Wi-Fi), offering the same (or better) product than existing technology (internet access without the hassle of cables) and overpriced. (Norman) As we can see at Swinburne, the Wi-Fi is slowly taking over the wired technology because they can coexist. The technology will however need to be welcomed in the corporate market. Businesses might be thrilled by the new Wi-Fi technology, but they are also hesitant, being nervous about security and may be too comfortable with the current infrastructure . They may not be familiar with the new technology, and the IT-budgets are no longer as big as they used to be. (Wi-Fi Planet, 2002a) To change the infrastructure is costly and the security issue is always important for any corporation or small business. VPN is good enough says ITS-director at Swinburne, but the signals are still ‘walking’ trough walls, and some argue that this is not good enough . Recent new security technologies for Wi-Fi are also being critiqued. (Neset, 2003) Wi-Fi is therefore still viewed as secondary to wired. (Wi-Fi Planet, 2002) But again, if Wi-Fi is chosen as the only infrastructure, the business will need lesser cost for cabling and maintenance. The user can connect to Internet anytime and make the workforce truly mobile. (Wi-Fi planet, 2002)

For the private market, the first problem is the obvious need of a laptop. Not everyone can afford one. If you got one, you still face an even bigger problem if you want to use it at home: infrastructure. If you don’t want to pay for wired Internet at home in addition to your wireless, you will need to go to a hot spot area to get online. Or set one up with your neighbours.

Unforeseen problems could also surface. Mobile phones are currently under heat for being dangerous with excessive use, could Wi-Fi possibly be as well? What about disturbances from weather conditions, or electricity from trams? I have found none of these predictions online. But on the other hand, unforseen advantages might also arise: New technologies always spawn forth new uses that were unthought of prior to the introduction of the technology. (Norman)

Roaming, the ability to move seamless from one frequency to another and one Wi-Fi supplier to another have been a big problem for Wi-Fi users. But things are happening; BCI for instance announced that in September its product eZ-Wi will offer the customers of ISPs access to the Internet at all participating hotspots. And Cloud, a large European provider, announced at the ITU Telecom World exhibition in Geneva recently that international Wi-Fi roaming would get easier . (IHT. 2003. Wi-Fi access expands: Cloud and Boingo to share networks. IHT (International Herald Tribune) Tuesday, Oct. 14.)

Norman’s ‘information appliance’ is interesting when talking about Wi-Fi technology and roaming. An information appliance is a simple easy-to-use ‘gadget’ specialized in information, be it knowledge, facts, graphics, images, video or sound. (Norman, p. 53) Norman’s vision is that we should forget the technology behind – and only concentrate on the task that needs doing, using the correct easy tool for it. Examples of an information appliance are for example the mobile telephone or the calculator. These appliances are specialised in what they do, with no need to compromise like the current PC by trying to fit all into one. (Norman) The major competitor to the information appliances however is the PC, which again is a prerequisite for using Wi-Fi. These two different technologies may seem like big competitors. The relevance of this to Wi-Fi and wireless technology Norman describes best himself: All information appliances partake in similar families of interrelated systems. For these to work smoothly requires an efficient, omnipresent and invisible infrastructure. (Norman) Once the information exchange is standardized, the particular infrastructure within each appliance becomes irrelevant, because each appliance uses whatever fits best. (Norman, p. 132) Wi-Fi is only an infrastructure; it should not be the goal in itself, but an invisible well functioning tool we don’t need to know about. (Norman) Because of the different wireless infrastructure, the solution that can be envisioned today is to be able to use Wi-Fi (WLAN) where that is accessible, and then switch to more expensive mobile services outside the Hot Spot areas (Bluetooth might also help ). We don’t just get Norman’s invisible computer, we also gain the invisible internet. If my laptop can connect wirelessly to the Internet... then anything electrical can be connected to the Internet and controlled by anything connected to the Internet. (Jager) Already there are some hints of this happening , made possible because the industry has been investing in wireless infrastructure from the start . (NEW TECHNOLOGY WEEK. 2001. Wireless Firms, Lucent Announce $50M In Contracts. New Technology Week. Jan. 8.) I thus argue that we need not choose between the PC and the information appliances, as long as the infrastructure becomes invisible and seamless we can switch between them as we wish, the personal computer just being another information appliance we can use to whatever we think it do best. Today it is the individual who must conform to the needs of technology. It is time to make technology conform to the needs of people. (Norman) I could not agree more. When I searched the World Wide Web for information about Wi-Fi I felt drenched with technological language. This new technological innovation is in fact making itself difficult when it should be making itself accessible. The normal end user has no or little knowledge of this, and should not have to either. You shouldn’t have to know or care… We are told we need to know because we are driven by technology and technologists. (Norman) Norman said this in reference to the personal computer being hard to use and learn how to use. I would argue that this is a general problem in the telecommunication industry. Cutler talks about technocratic platforms and why they fail;
… why they fail to capture the morphing user environment, blindly searching for ‘killer applications’. Real world network solutions are hybrid networks – multimedia. Some of the ‘next big things’ will arise when we are liberated from the constraints of technology-defined platforms… We need to rediscover the fundamental role of end users in driving and shaping innovation from the edges of networks. (CUTLER, T. 2003. Eye On The Future. Telecommunications Journal of Australia. Volume 53, no.2.)

He is opting for the 3G technology as one of the solutions to save us from these technology defined platforms. Yes, it is one of the infrastructures that can be used, in coordination with others, like Wi-Fi. When the infrastructure is seamless, the possibilities are endless. Today the technology is also making it possible to use voice as a means of communication. The important development here is that we are breaking out of the single channel mediums of text or voice communications because the technologies of packet switching and broadband Internet are opening up the potential of what we used to call multimedia. (Cutler, 2003). A multimedia that is everywhere, invisible and unobtrusive. This availability might change society. Norman says that disruptive, revolutionary technologies change people’s lives and are difficult to cope with. The important question is again not how the technology is going to be like, but how we are going to be like. (BARR, T. 2000. Newmedia.com.au. The Changing Face of Australia’s Media and Communications. Australia: Allen & Unwin.) Different wireless internet technologies may in the end enable us to be online 24/7. Do we really need to be? Do we want to be? Already there are mobile-free zones in restaurants because of the disturbance and noise for other customers. With Wi-Fi it will be much cheaper to be annoying. Barr says the new ways of communication are contributing to social change, but that we hopefully will be enriched and enhanced by it, and not so much digitally determined. (Barr)

In conclusion, it may take a long time for disruptive technologies to get a foothold, but when they do, they can topple already established firms and dominate their field. By listening to their best customers, good firms have been known to stumble badly, because a new technology that clearly underperforms compared to mature products may become the market leader later. Customers are the ones defining what ‘best’ means. When the performance of a product is more than good enough for the market, the ‘best’ product will be that of better reliability and reputation, before again shifting to that of convenience, and then price. (CHRISTENSEN, C.M. AND ARMSTRONG E.G. 1998. Disruptive Technologies: A Credible Threat to Leading Programs in Continuing Medical Education? The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Profession, Volume 18) The disruptive technology by being ‘good enough’ as well as cheaper steals the market away with aggressive marketing and new innovations. (Christensen and Armstrong) Examples of such aggressive marketing have currently started to appear, like the offerings of free access to the net via Wi-Fi. Some hotels and McDonald’s restaurants are for instance offering this to attract customers , and September 25 was Unwired Day in USA; hundreds of locations around the country offered free wireless internet access sponsored by big companies. In some McDonald’s restaurants in USA you can get free Wi-Fi access with the purchase of a Bic Mac Extra Value Meal. (COMMUNICATIONS TODAY. 2003. Wayport, McDonald’s Expand Wi-Fi Deal. Communications Today, July 9. Vol. 9), and universities like Swinburne offer it to attract students. Broadband is giving us great speed to the ‘digital superhighway’. Wi-Fi is giving us good speed, but it comes without the hassle of wires. There are problems and shortcomings that we are waiting for to be solved, but Wi-Fi is already getting faster, as at Swinburne, who promises an upgrade from 11 MB to 56 MB within six months. The biggest problem for Wi-Fi so far is security, but I have no doubt the industry have their best men and women working on this as I am writing this paper.

Professor Trevor Barr may just also agree that Wi-Fi could be the cheaper solution for empowered access for all. I will end this paper by quoting one of his ‘blueprints’ for Australia: ‘A vital component of the construction of an Australian advanced networked society is to make affordable high-bandwidth telecommunications available, preferably to all homes, institutions and offices.’ (Barr)