Guy Kewney

How much are people prepared to pay for an essentially useless technology? Quite a bit, unless you feel that Apple’s iPod has some utility beyond entertainment. But what real value does wireless or mobile IT have?

Five years ago in IT Week Martin Courtney asked wireless broadband providers what they thought of the recently established WiMax Forum, and reported that they saw little sign of good sense in the initiative.

In the same week, another story highlighted a survey of IT chiefs that revealed pronounced scepticism about the value of mobile IT. “We have to do it, because our employees want it,” was one thread, “but our own view is that it probably isn’t that much use.”

Talking to WiMax enthusiasts other than Intel, I get the impression that this year is pretty much make or break for the technology. It was created out of Intel’s enthusiasm for Centrino Wi-Fi, and frustration with it – licence free, how can you control that? – alongside evangelistic fervour for the creation of a new technology that would be universal.

What drove the chip giant, more than an awareness of utility, seems to have been a perception that adding mobile communications to portable computers provided better margins. Value without usefulness – as with diamond necklaces and iPods – can be a great way to build a business in many industries. But this model has steadfastly eluded pioneers in the IT market.

Does WiMax or any other mobile wireless broadband technology truly offer the IT director something that shows up on the bottom line? Or is the value merely a value to the manufacturers?

In a business where experts are still questioning the “real value” of even basic computer technology, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised to find scepticism about the usefulness of mobile. And after facing the mindless enthusiasm of a BlackBerry audience – whose ability to focus on one task is seriously undermined by their always-on lifestyle – maybe I should just accept that IT has, at last, reached the level where little changes except the wrappers?