A certain RCR Wireless News reporter based in D.C. who shall remain nameless likes to hold onto her stories for a little bit before turning them in to be edited. She says they need “time to cook.” Depending on how much we are pushing deadline, some stories get to cook longer than others. Just like stories, good ideas in the wireless industry need time to cook, time to develop into full-fledged products and services.
But that cooking process is often juxtaposed with the reality that new ideas are popping up all the time. And while one idea needs time to develop, new ideas-sometimes (but not always) better ideas-don’t wait patiently in line. Instead, they demand their own attention, competing for time, dollars and acceptance from the marketplace. And to even further complicate matters, half-baked bad ideas seem to come out ready-to-serve. (Bad ideas deserve bad analogies.)
Some examples:
c The wireless PDA market is struggling to survive. Palm’s acquisition of Handspring underscores the obstacles this fledgling industry is facing. PDAs are great devices. People who have them use them. They are reasonably priced, easy to use, lightweight, provide long battery life and have adequate space to store all the little notes busy people need to schedule their lives. Wireless PDAs also make sense. Yet, the idea of a wireless PDA has been cooking for 10 years and it’s still not a success story. Why?
c Bluetooth technology is another great idea. It has support from a number of large vendors, people like the idea and it enables instant connectivity. Yet even before it is fully integrated into the marketplace, it faces competition from new technologies like ZigBee. Will companies exit the Bluetooth space to become ZigBee proponents? And if ZigBee runs into challenges on its development path, a common occurrence in the tricky world of the wireless, will a fickle industry turn its back on that technology in favor of another technology that has yet to be proven but holds much promise?
c Nevertheless, bad ideas take on lives of their own. MCI was chosen by the U.S. government to build a cellular system in Iraq (granted a small one.) Putting aside the fact that MCI scammed the American people, MCI cannot be the most qualified company to build a cellular system. MCI doesn’t build networks; it uses them. MCI sold cellular service. It’s like hiring Hertz to build a car.
In light of all of this mud, it’s amazing that any ideas fully develop. Wireless in the United States is surely a success story by these standards.
