Why MAX, or more precisely, WiMAX? Well, in brief, because WiFi seems to be dying out faster than the dodo, at least at the city level. In reality, while there has been a wave of bad news, there is positive news on some fronts according to CNET. But when the title of their article is ‘Wifi isn’t dead yet,’ we are certainly begging the question ‘Has this technology window closed?’
Before we talk about WiMAX, lets talk about Wi. Wireless. Floating from location to location on an interconnected series of wifi clouds - with your connection meter all the way to 11. The dream is getting closer to reality, with major strides in wireless devices, interfaces, and technology in general. But that is on the client side. The server side has become bogged down in questions of dollars and sense.
Mark just posted an excellent article that itself was really a question: was wireless MLS as big a deal for the practitioner as we made of it. This is a salient question for both Mark and I from an administrative/management perspective, but it is also of course a serious consideration for a practitioner trying to maximize their ROI. Data plans, and the devices to run them on, get expensive. So the complete dream means that all those little hotspots blend together so that you get ‘free’ connectivity anywhere. That is the dream that has been turned into a reality in some places, and a nightmare in others. San Francisco itself just experienced a critical setback in its planned peninsula wide wifi project. But despite this setback the city has indicated that this is just a speedbump and will work with other business suitors to create the network.
So, speed bumps and bad implementations aside, the dream of ‘ubiquitous access’ persists. Now for the MAX part.
Basically, the idea is to turn your city into a giant microwave. Now before we panic, lets understand that these microwaves won’t hurt you. But they may provide a more cost effective, functional way to remain on the happy path towards the dream of go anywhere access.
The question of whether something is useful should of course begin with its cost. Only then can you calculate your return on that investment. Is wireless MLS access fro the cell phone useful? Sure, if it is easy and free! If connectivity is spotty, slow or expensive, perhaps not.
Now, at this point you should know me well enough to know that I was just about to say ‘nothing is really free.’ As consumers we need to prepare for the next level of media marketing saturation. I have already written about the ways that technology is infusing itself into every aspect of our lives. And of course, the more ’screens’ into the digital world that we are exposed to the more marketing materials we can expect to see. That is, unless you are willing to upgrade to the ‘unbranded version,’ at which you are back to square one in the cycle 
I think that many communities who have started down the path towards wireless via wifi have taken a hard look at the dollars and sense, and are realizing that the wifi window has in fact closed. It may be time for WiMAX… but I am heading out of my house now. I won’t know the answer until I get to another connected location. Yet.
Next Up? RESurface… what ubiquitous wireless will mean for Real Estate with the surface revolution on the horizon.