Going Wi-Fi: A Practical Guide to Planning and Building an 802.11 Network

Wi-Fi's Time Has Come

Howard Strauss of Princeton University, in preparation for a discussion on ubiquitous computing, searched the archives at Princeton and discovered the following quotes from various faculty meetings concerning the introduction of another technological marvel of the early 20^th Century—electricity—onto the Princeton campus:

• Electricity is just a fad, just as silly as the Wright brothers flying, it won't survive.

• Do we really need an electric point in every classroom? Maybe just connecting a few of them will be enough.

• There are too many standards at the moment (DC, AC, 110v, 220v, etc.). We should wait till there is just one standard.

• We could buy a years' worth of candles for the cost of cabling the campus.

• It isn't reliable, so we will have to have candles anyhow.

• Some students will want more than one light, we should ration it and only allow them one light each.

• We should limit each student to 25W, they don't need any more than that.

• They will use it for non-academic purposes like reading trashy novels, and we shouldn't be providing for their non-academic life.

• It will allow night classes, so we will have to work more hours, and it will turn universities into learning factories.

In short, in spite of the myopic views of those comfortable with the status quo, you can't stop progress. Wi-Fi is here to stay.