July 26, 1999
Wireless iBook Offers Interesting Possibilities
By Bob O'Donnell
Leave it to the much beleaguered, often berated industry bit player
known as Apple Computer to once again shake up the entire computer
industry and show people how to do things right. Not only is the newly
introduced iBook a great-looking
computer that's bound to be imitated by others, it's also got a slick
architecture for wireless networking and Internet access that's already
making Windows-based PC users salivate.
In fact, while most of the initial attention surrounding the iBook is
focusing on its slick design, I'm convinced it's the wireless stuff that
will make the most important long-term impact on the rest of the industry.
Now, to be sure, the wireless technology underlying Apple's AirPort
card and AirPort base station aren't entirely new-Proxim's Symphony
wireless networking product, for example, uses a similar technology-but
the packaging, pricing and overall presentation that Apple is providing
are bound to make their version a big home run.
The Lucent-designed technology that Apple is using as a basis for their
AirPort products is the latest iteration of a wireless Ethernet standard
known as 802.11. It uses radio frequencies that provide wireless
connections through walls and other solid objects over a range of about
150 feet. Previous versions of this DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum)
radio technology-including that used by the Proxim product and other PC
networking products-have been limited to 1.6 Mbps, but the Apple AirPort
provides 11 Mbps, slightly better than standard Ethernet and plenty good
enough for home and small business networking needs, as well as broadband
Internet connections. Even better, the price is much lower for the
higher-speeds. At $99, the iBook AirPort card is significantly less
expensive than most PC wireless cards, partially because the iBook's case
includes the necessary antennae built-in.
By themselves, two AirPort-equipped iBooks can communicate wirelessly
for file and printer sharing, multi-player games and so on. If you want to
have wireless Internet connections, however-as most people will want
to-you'll probably also have to pop for the $299 AirPort base station,
which includes a built-in 56K modem and Ethernet port for connecting to
broadband connections such as cable, DSL and satellite lines. Even this
price isn't bad compared to the competition, however, and it does provide
the flexibility of either analog or high-speed connection in a single box.
Many other products only offer one or the other.
In some situations, because of software that Apple provides with the
AirPort cards, you don't even need to use the AirPort base station for
wireless Internet access. If one AirPort-equipped iBook is wired to an
Internet connection, up to 10 other other AirPort-equipped iBooks can
share that connection wirelessly without the base station. If you want the
freedom to have all the iBooks untethered, however, then you will need to
use the AirPort base station.
All told, the AirPort looks to be an extremely elegant solution and,
because it's standards-based, it can even used with other 802.11 DSSS
wireless products, even if they're running on PCs. Combine that with the
fact that the computer itself is a powerful, reasonably-priced machine and
it looks like, once again, Apple has a real winner on their hands.
©
Copyright 1999, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
155 Bovet Road, San Mateo, CA 94402. Further reproduction is
prohibited.
