[CUBE] GSM & IrDA

[Riba]

> actually, i do consider line-of-sight technology inferior to any 
> alternative that allows for simple proximity based recognition and 
> transmission.  i think lots of folks did, which is why irda is dead.  
> market penetration, or heck, actual use of irda has been very very > low.

That is right, but that might be the case with bluetooth also. I guess 
we will see. I'm just saying that for certain uses IR was more than 
adequate.

> but if, as you say, bluetooth, which i have no experience with 
> whatsoever, has a sucky range, then it's just not ready.  i've always 
> been skeptical of bluetooth - only

Yes. it is both slow, and has a low range. Quite a disappointment.

> recently did i start thinking it might be useful if it were like 
> wireless usb in a 3-5 (us foot) range.  this would be cool.  no more 
> logitech cordless crap - bluetooth mice, keyboards, printers and 
> scanners would be very cool.  guess it's not there yet.

Actually, it might be good for keyboards and mice. Another thing, IR 
has very small power requirements, which is not the case for any sort 
of radio transmitter. That's why they had to keep the range small.

> the other day, working from home, i put my (win2k, intel) laptop on my 
> desk, and it perks up, and says printer now in range.  i'm like, wow, 
> it just noticed my printer being nearby.  that's very cool, until you 
> consider the speed, and that as soon as i put my arm in the way of the 
> irda port on the laptop, the connection between the laptop and printer 
> went away.  line of sight sucks.

Heh, actually, me and my colleague found our IrDA ports extremely 
convenient to transfer a couple of files when the LAN in our company 
went down :)