The Innovation Journey of Wi-Fi The Road to Global Success [Paperback]

An explanation of the development of Wi-Fi through first-hand accounts by industry practitioners.Wi-Fi has become the preferred means for connecting to the internet  at home, in the office, in hotels and at airports. This book explains the development of this technology through first-hand accounts by industry practitioners and reflects on implications for government policy and firm strategy.Wi-Fi has become the preferred means for connecting to the internet  at home, in the office, in hotels and at airports. This book explains the development of this technology through first-hand accounts by industry practitioners and reflects on implications for government policy and firm strategy.Wi-Fi has become the preferred means for connecting to the internet  at home, in the office, in hotels and at airports. Increasingly, Wi-Fi also provides internet access for remote communities where it is deployed by volunteers in community-based networks, by operators in hotspots' and by municipalities in hotzones'. This book traces the global success of Wi-Fi to the landmark change in radio spectrum policy by the US FCC in 1985, the initiative by NCR Corporation to start development of Wireless-LANs and the drive for an open standard IEEE 802.11, released in 1997. It also singles out and explains the significance of the initiative by Steve Jobs at Apple to include Wireless-LAN in the iBook, which moved the product from the early adopters to the mass market. The book explains these developments through first-hand accounts by industry practitioners and concludes with reflections and implications for government policy and firm strategy.List of figures; List of tables; List of contributors; Introduction Wolter Lemstra, Vic Hayes and John Groenewegen; Reading guide; 1. The case and the theoretical framework Wolter Lemstra, John Groenewegen and Vic Hayes; Part I. The Wi-Fi Journey: 2. NCR - taking the cue provided by the FCC Wolter Lemstra, Donald Johnson, Bruce Tuch and Michael Marcus; lCs