Innovation
Rupert Goodwins' Diary
Thursday 14/06/2001"Guess what!" said a curiously flustered Charles Mclellan, our esteemed reviews editor.
Thursday
14/06/2001 "Guess what!" said a curiously flustered Charles Mclellan, our esteemed reviews editor. He's an unflappable sort, due to many years running PC Magazine's production desk -- a job where nerves of steel and the ability to neatly side-step rampaging bull editors are basic requirements. I'd spotted his flushed cheeks, overly bright eyes and slightly rumpled appearance, but put it all down to a long day schmoozing with Sony, Sony occupies a special place in the hearts of technology journalists. It's a company which is notoriously hard to get anything out of, and not just the fine range of goodies it produces. Its reticence includes basic information: it'd probably take a week to get back to you if you asked it how to spell their name. But when it decides it has something to say it does push the boat out by way of compensation. But it wasn't excessive hospitality that stirred Chazza. No, he was excited because "I've just seen Bluetooth. Working!" The office fell silent. "What did you just say?" I asked. "Bluetooth. Working. Two laptops. Over several metres!" He was ranting now, and I signalled to the butler to prepare the Ovaltine and valium cocktail we find works so well in such situations. But it's true. Not only does it work, but it works quite well. Oh, there are issues with it needing a team of twenty programmers to install the card on a PC. We still don't know what it does in the same room with 802.11b wireless networking, and Sony has abjectly failed to put it into their phones as well as their laptops, but we have seen Bluetooth. Working!
14/06/2001 "Guess what!" said a curiously flustered Charles Mclellan, our esteemed reviews editor. He's an unflappable sort, due to many years running PC Magazine's production desk -- a job where nerves of steel and the ability to neatly side-step rampaging bull editors are basic requirements. I'd spotted his flushed cheeks, overly bright eyes and slightly rumpled appearance, but put it all down to a long day schmoozing with Sony, Sony occupies a special place in the hearts of technology journalists. It's a company which is notoriously hard to get anything out of, and not just the fine range of goodies it produces. Its reticence includes basic information: it'd probably take a week to get back to you if you asked it how to spell their name. But when it decides it has something to say it does push the boat out by way of compensation. But it wasn't excessive hospitality that stirred Chazza. No, he was excited because "I've just seen Bluetooth. Working!" The office fell silent. "What did you just say?" I asked. "Bluetooth. Working. Two laptops. Over several metres!" He was ranting now, and I signalled to the butler to prepare the Ovaltine and valium cocktail we find works so well in such situations. But it's true. Not only does it work, but it works quite well. Oh, there are issues with it needing a team of twenty programmers to install the card on a PC. We still don't know what it does in the same room with 802.11b wireless networking, and Sony has abjectly failed to put it into their phones as well as their laptops, but we have seen Bluetooth. Working!