If standards don’t fly, we all lose

The scene at last week’s CeBIT convention in Hanover, Germany, was enough to make any seasoned traveler chuckle.

A group of Bluetooth developers tried to demonstrate their new wireless technology to a crowd of attendees, hoping to creating the biggest network for Palmtop computers ever. Instead, the exhibition fizzled and turned into what one reporter called an “embarrassing flop” for the emerging standard.

Why would the road warriors among us laugh? Because they don’t need to attend a convention to know how unpredictable wireless technology can be. They see it every day – the dropped cell phone calls, crummy wireless modem connections and infrared devices that sometimes work, sometimes don’t.

Rotten Bluetooth demo? Tell ‘em something they don’t already know.

OK, how about this: if Bluetooth and other projects like it don’t succeed, we’ll all be losers. If the industry can’t get its act together, wirelessly speaking, then we’ll be stuck with what we’ve got right now.

And what we’ve got is no good.

Take just one part of the connectivity equation for travelers – an Internet hook-up at the airport. At about the same time that Bluetooth pulled its ill-fated demonstration at CeBIT, I was trapped at the Orlando International Airport for seven hours on a weather delay. It had been several days since I’d checked e-mail and I needed to get my fix.

First I checked the so-called “business center” at the airport, but it ended up being little more than a cluster of payphones and a station where you could mail overnight packages from. They should just rename it the “waiting area near no gate,” because that’s really all it is.

Then I stopped at the Hyatt Regency a short escalator ride away. Its business center wanted to charge me $10 for 15 minutes of connect time with a 15-minute minimum. No discounts for someone like me who might want to spend two hours online. Hardly a bargain, so I kept looking.

Back downstairs at Laptop Lane, things took a turn for the worse. It wanted to bill me $5 for the first 5 minutes (with a five-minute minimum) and 65 cents per minute for one of its “workspaces.” In fairness to Laptop Lane, that figure included full Internet access, plus unlimited phone calls within the country and as much printing and faxing as I wanted to do. However, for someone who just wanted to check e-mail, I was looking at shelling out more than $80.

Have these people lost their minds? Yes. And you know it:

- The Reno, Nev., Hilton’s business center charged an astounding 99 cents per minute for a 56K dial-up connection, reports reader John deCastro. “If you wanted to have a printer it was an extra 99 cents per minute.”

- Ben Gritzewsky paid $12 a day for his Internet connection at the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco. “I normally don’t use hotel room access, but the wireless keyboard with WebTV setup is cool,” he says.

- Charlie Sandberg doesn’t even bother with Internet connections at hotels or airports, unless they’re free. “When I am on the road and I need an Internet fix I can always go to Kinkos and get online for $20 an hour,” he says.

In the interests of a balanced story it’s worth mentioning that not every hotel or airport charges outrageous fees. Some even give you the works – a PC and a connection – for free. I’m thinking of Caneel Bay, the upscale resort in the United States Virgin Islands, which lets you log on for nothing. Reader Bill Doran reports that the Air France Business class lounge in Paris offers computers from which you can access your e-mail, gratis. And Thomas Roth, another reader of this column, reports that most American Airlines Admiral’s Club lounges do the same. (They never let me into the lounges when I travel, so I wouldn’t know.)

Still, unifying all of our wireless devices under a single standard, as Bluetooth aspires to, could eliminate or reduce the remaining connectivity charges. Imagine airport-wide wireless networks where multiple Internet service providers offer competitive rates for connecting to their networks. Wait, don’t imagine – key parts of these networks already exist at many airports.

Now expand such a wireless network to encompass not just the airport but also the airport hotel. Expand further. The competing wireless networks are now citywide, statewide, or even nationwide. Bandwidth is priced like a commodity and you can switch between one network and the next as easily as you open and close a program on your personal digital assistant.

When that happens – and it will – then it probably won’t be possible for Hyatt to stick it to me for 66 cents a minute for an Internet-connected PC. Rates in hotel business centers and airport lounges for net access will have to sink because competition from high-speed wireless networks will force them to lower their prices. The business centers might charge a premium for the PC that you use, but it won’t be an outrageous amount of money. It can’t be.

Bluetooth may represent the kind of start that’s as painful as an afternoon of dental surgery, but it’s a necessary beginning. No user group will be more affected by its success or failure than frequent travelers.

In the meantime, don’t leave the office without your laptop or PDA unless you won’t need to connect to the Internet. Because chances are, when you need a PC and a connection the most, you’ll get charged out the wazoo for the privilege.

It’s hardly fair, but then so much about this business isn’t.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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