Intel and Microsoft's 802.11 investment shows their interest in riding interactive bandwagon that cell phones are leading: An interesting piece of analysis from the always thought provoking Bill Gurley, a venture capitalist of long standing, who has seen Wi-Fi's potential much earlier than most.
Gurley argues that cell phones' lack of luster was due to their lag in supplying services people didn't know they wanted, but which the uptake and revenue rate on shows there's a market for. Mostly interactive media is at stake, and new phones will offer even more of this.
Meanwhile, he points out that the global market for computers has slowed, and there are more cell phone owners and a faster phone sales market than that for computers. Intel (as I wrote in the Seattle Times a couple of months ago) and Microsoft both need to keep up on Wi-Fi as part of the edge they can wield while Wi-Fi's advantage is strong -- but Gurley misses the fact that Intel and Microsoft will slide their way right into the cell data world and cell telephone world by continually updating their wireless offerings.
What Centrino is today -- plain jane 802.11b -- doesn't reflect tomorrow. Intel could easily plop in 802.11a/g, Bluetooth/802.15.1, and one or more 2.5G/3G standards in the same card slot in the next-generation, and turn their laptops into hubs for cell data, for cell-computer interaction, and for wireless high-speed networking without skipping a beat.