HardwareCentral - Bluetooth: On the Road to Valhalla?

Bluetooth: On the Road to Valhalla?

June 12, 2001
By Vince Freeman

Wireless Hype Fizzles As Other Technologies Rise

The latest industry rumblings concerning Bluetooth are not positive. In fact, the bloom seems to be coming off the short-range-wireless rose.

It wasn't long ago that the Bluetooth hype machine was in full gear, making endless promises about the technology's benefits and incessant references to the origin of its name (one last time, a tenth-century Viking king who "united" several of the Scandinavian countries, see the connection?). Some swallowed the hoopla whole, imagining a future where PDAs, cell phones, and other products would offer all kinds of information for the taking. Now the entire Bluetooth industry looks ready to take a bath.

A major blow came when Microsoft announced it was skipping Bluetooth support in its upcoming Windows XP operating system in favor of the 802.11b (WiFi) standard for wireless Ethernet LANs. There was immediate outcry on the Bluetooth discussion groups, accusing Microsoft of evil discrimination and even proclaiming the snub would be the death of the company. This was amusing, since no matter how you feel about Microsoft in general, you have to give its execs credit for being extremely smart businesspeople.

As such, Microsoft obviously saw the writing on the wall and went with 802.11b because it offers tangible benefits and potential revenue streams, instead of pure hype. (Of course, Microsoft did hedge its bets in the promising handheld market by promising Bluetooth support for a future version of Windows CE.)

Since then, prominent hardware companies have started to jump off the Bluetooth bandwagon. VIA Technologies recently started to talk about integrating the 802.11b WLAN standard in upcoming chipsets, but dismissed the notion of including Bluetooth anytime in the future. This sort of negativism, especially coming from world's largest chipset manufacturer, is certainly not good news for Bluetooth vendors. I've heard rumors that SiS, too, is looking to expand its integrated network protocols past Ethernet and HomePNA and into wireless LANs, and Intel already sells a successful line of 802.11b network adapters.

In the mobile market, 802.11b chips are sneaking their way into everything from headsets to handhelds. It all points to yet another market squeeze, in which the WiFi protocol swipes yet another potential market away from the Bluetooth camp. Meanwhile, most laptop vendors still support the Infrared Data Association (IrDa) protocol, which has a slightly shorter range (but higher data-transfer rate) than Bluetooth. The latter doesn't have the features, speed, or range to compete with WiFi, but neither is it entrenched enough to challenge IrDa. If there was ever a technology with a severe case of market overlap, Bluetooth is it.

What Went Wrong?

One of the fatal missteps Bluetooth made was to aim too low technically, while shooting for the stars in implementation. Many potential customers are interested in the technology, but once they find out about Bluetooth's 10-meter transmission range, low data rates, and limit of eight devices per piconet (network group), most say thanks and quickly move on. The Ethernet variant 802.11b is more realistic in its goal of replacing conventional networks with wireless devices, while moving slowly into secondary business and consumer applications.

Low device cost was also an integral part of the Bluetooth strategy, but 3Com's newest Bluetooth PC Card lists for $149 -- well above the under-$100 price tags of many 802.11b PC Cards. No matter how potentially inexpensive the technology could be, it's still dependent on mass-market acceptance and high production volumes to gain economies of scale. Until that day, the upcoming Bluetooth SD card for the Palm m500 will cost close to half as much as the PDA itself.

Application support is another sore spot -- but with few Bluetooth devices available for sale, software development becomes harder to justify, and without robust applications, device purchases will stay low. Promoters had pointed to 2001 as the year of the Bluetooth revolution; then they targeted 2003, and now perhaps 2005. By then, competing wireless formats will be so well entrenched as to make Bluetooth a historical footnote.

If you ask the important business questions -- whether Bluetooth hardware and software fill a large market need; whether developers can turn the perceived need into a profitable business model -- companies walk away shaking their heads. In fact, a quick perusal of currently available Bluetooth products shows that an inordinate amount are merely development platforms or kits for Bluetooth hardware and application testing. It reminds me of other gold rushes, where the ones who got rich weren't panning for gold, but selling picks and shovels to the would-be millionaires.

What's the closest thing to a Bluetooth "killer app"? Probably print sharing; the ability to print files from a notebook or PDA over a wireless Bluetooth connection is a relatively simple implementation, and Hewlett-Packard's announced a Bluetooth-equipped DeskJet ink-jet. But is this anything to get excited about, considering that network print sharing is standard for most businesses and that an 802.11b WLAN is faster, has a much greater range, and is easier to implement?

Wireless Reality Checks

Other, similar "red-hot applications" are just as boring to currently wired business or even home-office environments. For instance, instant messaging and Internet chat are popular, and more and more businesses are adopting in-house, network-based messaging, so a few vendors are keen on Bluetooth chat. But for low-power devices (the vast majority of Bluetooth consumer products), transmissions will be limited to a 10-meter radius -- and that's a best-case scenario, without walls or other obstructions.

Can you imagine a group of people busily tapping away on their PDAs, trading messages with colleagues within a 10-meter radius? It'd be far quicker and easier to put the handhelds away and carry on a normal conversation.

That's the Bluetooth problem in a nutshell -- the proponents of the technology haven't given adequate thought to the reality or feasibility of most of the ideas proposed. Sure, getting a printout from a handy Bluetooth airport printer sounds neat, but exactly how would this be implemented in the real world, and exactly why would airports invest heavily in Bluetooth printers? I don't know about you, but I have a hard enough time finding basic airport amenities such as an open restaurant or bookstore.

Indeed, too many intriguing Bluetooth ideas rest on the illusion that -- in an era of corporate cutbacks and razor-thin margins -- consumer-oriented businesses will spend a fortune on Bluetooth technology and infrastructure. Not going to happen.

People have been fed the hype of a futuristic society with no need to carry keys, money, or ID ever again, but the current Bluetooth reality mainly involves replacing a few serial and USB cables with wireless links. Those are certainly worthy implementations, but if that's the steak, then I'm sticking with the sizzle, thanks. I guess Bluetooth backers thought, "If we build it, they will come," but so far, the stands remain empty and we don't have enough players to take batting practice.

Next: Page 1 »

Tools: