re: Bluetooth: Educating the Consumer
... It is interesting to note the initiative of Sony to join forces with Ericsson to promote a 'Bluetooth bundle' ...
... Nokia would also appear to have adopted this educational theme.
>> No Shortage of Viewpoints
Paul Rasmussen, Editor
Bluetooth World
Issue 6, 01 December 2001
Six months is a short time in the fortunes of wireless technologies. Bluetooth is now back in the spotlight and is being labelled, largely by the consumer press, as the new and exciting wireless technique to make our lives easier, more meaningful and enjoyable. Yet go back to the summer of this year and, according to industry commentators, Bluetooth was dead. Indeed, everyone should move on to something real and powerful, such as 802.11.
There were justifiable, if somewhat ill-informed, reasons behind the harsh reaction to Bluetooth's many promises from the wireless soothsayers ...
- The product was late (very)
- The much-hyped $5 chip was not in sight
- Interoperability was highly questionable
... all of which was not helped by members of the BSIG Promoter Group making 'unfortunate' public statements about their commitment to the technology.
Never shy to maximise an opportunity, the market research firms published forecasts in 1999 claiming that there would be between 600 million and 1.8 billion Bluetooth chipsets shipped in 2001. No wonder people got excited, only to feel 12 months later that it was all a complete sham.
The realisation that investors in Bluetooth start-ups wanted a return on their investments drove those with nebulous business plans to the wall, while others have had to refinance to carry them through this 'trough of disillusionment'.
The more established backers did little to steady the Bluetooth ship, other than to express their confidence in the fact that wireless connectivity was the way of the future. Some of those developing Bluetooth were more circumspect in the early days and their calls for more realistic timeframes were lost to the noise of potential fortunes that were to be made. The Bluetooth community, with what appears to be a real opportunity during 2002, is now poorer, less intact, slightly sullied - but a much wiser group.
Many of the problems Bluetooth experienced this year were due to communications and education.
If it is possible to pick up the wrong end of the stick, then the media will normally do so. But, hopefully, this lesson has been understood by the industry and it is now faced with the greater challenge of educating the consumer to the benefits of Bluetooth.
It is interesting to note the initiative of Sony to join forces with Ericsson to promote a 'Bluetooth bundle'. The partnership, which was hatched prior to the two firms formally agreeing the Sony Ericsson Mobile Phone deal, involves the Bluetooth/GPRS T39m cellphone from Ericsson with a Bluetooth-enabled Sony Vaio laptop. Sony is keen to stress that this exercise is about educating its reseller channel and potential purchasers about the benefits of Bluetooth rather than shifting large quantities of products.
Nokia would also appear to have adopted this educational theme. The company, while being a BSIG Promoter Group member, has always had a somewhat ambivalent attitude to Bluetooth and is only just making its first Bluetooth version available. Regardless of this policy, the company claims that it has been spending its time enlightening the mobile operators to the wider benefits of adopting Bluetooth cellphones. This has not been an altogether easy task, with some operators said to be hostile about supporting a technology that could diminish their already falling voice-based revenues.
But the sign that the likes of Sony and Nokia are committed to pushing Bluetooth into the market by educating their worldwide sales channels, does indicate a significant step forward - and an enormous vote of confidence. <<
- Eric - |
