From Scott Bleakley, August 30, 2001 – Using the same irrational logic as many recent press articles about Bluetooth and 802.11, should we assume that since cars and trucks both use wheels and internal combustion engines that we should bludgeon one to death as unnecessary, overlapping technology? A key point seems to be lost in most of these articles regarding Bluetooth's premature demise. Bluetooth and 802.11 are both excellent technologies that will significantly improve our day-to-day business and personal productivity. However, they are targeted towards different audiences.
802.11 is primarily a device-to-server (i.e. LAN Access Point) technology. Bluetooth is primarily a device-to-device (i.e. PDA to PDA) technology. Both technologies happen to use the same unlicensed 2.4 GHz wireless bandwidth spectrum. The similarities begin to rapidly disappear at this point.
It does not make sense to equip a small mobile device with the need for close proximity communication with a relatively large, heavy power consumption, long-range communication technology like 802.11. Situations such as requesting a soda from a vending machine, docking your PDA into your car's navigation system, or sending information to your colleague across the table do not require LAN access.
It makes equally little sense to equip your roaming laptop computer users within a building or campus environment with a technology like Bluetooth, which is optimized for a 30-foot radius. In this environment the key requirement is uninterrupted access to the wireless LAN.
The "technical merit" discussions about these or any other wireless technologies are long and usually boring. The key issue is that both Bluetooth and 802.11 are excellent technologies that meet different end user requirements and target different technology requirements. Within my company I have both 802.11 and Bluetooth. Within my garage I have both a car and a truck. One does not preclude the need for the other; both allow me to drive. Differently.
Scott Bleakley
President & CEO
Impart Technology, Inc.
Austin, Texas
