When wi-fi was created and what the name means
Thanks to wi-fi technology, we can connect to the internet without the need for cables
For many, the word wi-fi became one of the first pronounced when we entered a place for the first time.
At friends' houses, in a restaurant or in a waiting room, asking if you have wi-fi and what the password is is part of the routine to ensure that we are always connected to the internet.
But have you ever wondered where that word comes from?
- Given its similarity to Hi-Fi (short for "High Fidelity", which means High-fidelity), you could assume that the term is derived from Wireless Fidelity, that is, from the fidelity of the wireless signal.
As Phil Belanger, one of the founding members of the Wi-Fi Alliance, revealed in 2005, the global association of companies that gave rise to wi-fi, the word means absolutely nothing: it was born simply as a result of a marketing strategy.
Nowadays there are several devices that can be connected by wi-fi
The term wi-fi was created by the marketing agency Interbrand. She was in charge of launching the brand and presented 10 name suggestions to the Wi-Fi Alliance for them to choose one.
"We needed something a little more attractive than 'IEEE 802.11 b Direct Sequence," explained Belanger, citing the official name for this type of communication.
The confusion over the meaning of the name of this type of wireless communication seems to have arisen as a result of the company initially adding in its promotions the phrase: "the standard for wireless fidelity", since the members of the board did not trust in using an invented name that was not associated with any meaning.
They later acknowledged that adding this text was a mistake, said Belanger, and removed that explanatory phrase.
Relatively new invention
The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (today the Wi-Fi Alliance), which gave rise to wi-fi, was formed in September 1999 by six companies. Currently, about 800 are part of the group.
In addition to being an actress, Lamarr was an inventor with a brilliant mind
But before this system was born that transmits information by radio waves (which uses frequencies between 2 and 5 gigahertz of the electromagnetic spectrum), there were other inventions and undertakings that made this form of communication possible.
One of the most notable initiatives emerged from the effort and intelligence of Hedy Lamarr, an acclaimed 1940s Hollywood star who, in addition to staging the first orgasm in a film, was a technology genius.
During the Second World War, the actress developed a system of radio-guided torpedoes that prevented them from being detected by the enemy, and a frequency-hopped spectrum technology that ended up giving rise to the first Wi-Fi connection standard (the IEEE 802.11) in 1997.
Wi-Fi uses radio waves like other technologies
Another important step in the establishment of this technology occurred in the early 1970s, when a wireless network called ALOHAnet was created, which demonstrated that it was possible to send data wirelessly between the islands of Hawaii.
And in 1991, as New Scientist magazine explains, AT&T and NCR created the precursor to wi-fi as a way to connect cash registers, called WaveLAN.
This technology - whose potential was not immediately appreciated in the beginning - became so popular that the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) created the 802.11 standard that today we call wi-fi and which is fundamental for communications.
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