"Thanks to Marconi, the real wireless communication honors should go to country-radio disc jockeys who, for years, have forwarded, over-the-air -- wireless -- messages for heartsick lovers:"Uh, would you play 'Achy Breaky Heart' for Maryann over in Davenport?"

You can't visit this column often without finding me grousing about an advertised innovation that's actually a copy of something past. Mind you, I don't mind companies lifting and improving on ideas, but I think it's wrong to photostat an idea or invention and call it your own.

The reverse-opening car door is one of my recent gripes. GM's extended-cab pickup truck's second set of doors is my first copycat example, and now it's Honda's youth-focused Element, an all-wheel drive, mini SUV that, like the GM pickups -- and the 1933 Ford 4-door sedan -- features "innovative" reverse-opening, rear-seat doors.

In the pre-Ralph Nader days, when all cars were unsafe at any speed, the reverse-opening portals were nicknamed "suicide" doors, because, in front-impact collisions, these doors commonly sprang open and caused the car's occupants to spew out. This is the reason reverse-opening car doors disappeared for 75 years.

Today, I'm sure the GM and Honda engineers have devised more secure latches. Plus, in the present, we wear seatbelts, which is something only racecar drivers did in 1933. Today, if we're riding in the back seat of one of these innovative vehicles, and its front smacks another vehicle, we shouldn't spew out.

Still, you'll want to wear your seatbelt if you ride in one.

Honda's ad writers also tout that the off-road Element is easy to clean. Just pull out the seats and hose the interior, they say, not mentioning, of course, that Jeep CJ owners have done this for the past 50 years.

Neat little truck, the Element, but there's nothing new in the box.

The upcoming and innovative "high-tech" technology is the wireless -- Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) -- technology, and, other than the telephone-request radio shows cited earlier, it is relatively new. And, digitally based, wireless protocol Internet communications -- branded as Bluetooth™ or, separately, as the IEEE 802.11 (the a, b or g series) protocol -- is not only new, but vastly important because it not only communicates between computers, but the eventual plan is to build systems that communicate between a computer and such shop machines as a CNC router, cutting plotter or inkjet printer.

Wi-Fi is becoming a household word, and, if you don't grasp it now, you'll soon want to. For example, you'll want to know if it can save you money or smooth your shop operations.

Essentially, the 802.11 protocol is a standard developed by the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) for wireless networking technologies. It provides an interface that manages the use of digital signals via airwaves for the operation of a communications system. An 802.11-equipped system employs a "carrier sense" protocol, similar to common Ethernet standards, which enables wireless computers to share frequency and space.

The IEEE says it completed its standards for wireless LANs (WLANs) in 1997 in a step to "maximize interoperability between differing brands of WLANs, as well as to introduce a variety of performance improvements and benefits." If you'd like to read a detailed explanation of wireless protocols, visit http://ei.cs.vt.edu/ ~wwwbtb/book/chap17.

By the way, IT managers like Wi-Fi, not only because they're techies, but also because they don't have to spend nights and weekends stringing blue wires (under desks and over ceiling tiles) installing Internet service to new locations. You'll like it because it's easy to use. It's also possible that the technology could create a business-building channel via sign-related security systems. I'll have more on this in a minute.

802.11b, the designation of the present, prevalent system, is said to be inexpensive, plentiful and equipped with an 11Mbps (megabytes per second) bandwidth that handles three channels of communication. In popularity, it wins over the Bluetooth protocol, although the latter has created a limited-capacity personal area network (PAN) system for an Internet-based, wireless, voice-communications network.

The PAN system works with a Vocera-brand communications badge that clips on your clothes, like a nametag, so that you can two-way talk to another unit within range. It's really close to a Dick Tracy-type walkie-talkie wristwatch, and, with it, your company's key people can easily talk to one another.

Bluetooth wireless technology works in a similar fashion as 802.11. Bluetooth SIG Inc. (named after Denmark's ninth-century warrior king, Harald Bluetooth) provides links between mobile computers, mobile phones and portable handheld devices, and also connectivity to the Internet. The company says Bluetooth-equipped hardware -- its list includes peripheral, camera and mobile PC manufacturers and handheld device developers, as well as car and consumer electronics manufacturers -- ensures worldwide communication compatibility.

According to Business 2.0's Wireless Report, Wi-Fi is a $2 billion industry. It's expected to grow by 30% annually for the next few years. The March issue of Laptop magazine says 5,000 WLAN sites exist worldwide. Its reporter, Jason Compton, says 18 million wireless-ready devices shipped in 2002. Jason also says the present technology is "merely the beginning."

Last year, AT&T, IBM, Intel Capital Apax Partners and 3i joined forces to create Cometa Networks, an enterprise for establishing a nationwide 802.11b protocol network that, the company PR says, will offer wireless networking service to an array of companies, including telecommunications providers, network carriers and Internet service providers. Their objective is to create 20,000 access points in 50 cities around the United States. Cometa, the wholesaler, operates behind the scenes, and its selected resellers (supplying the 20,000 sites) provide Wi-Fi services to you and me.

To use Wi-Fi, you'll need a computer or notebook -- have you noticed that the ad writers have transitioned us from saying "Laptops" to "Notebooks?" --with an 802.11b wireless card.

Futurists see a world where wireless access is omnipresent, similar to the cell-phone systems we use today. In fact, because of the presently established foundations (networked systems and global billing), these futurists see the Wi-Fi systems as eventually owned by traditional wireless cellular companies. The companies expect to receive $30-$40 per month income per user.

Intel includes 802.11b Wi-Fi capabilities in its Israeli-designed, dual-band Banias PC chip. Intel's news releases say 30 million 802.11b laptops will be sold over the next three years, and the company wants its Banias chips inside those laptops.

Microsoft, as you might expect, has also stepped into the ring. It's offering such hardware as PC cards, access points and wireless routers. This offering speaks of the technologies' importance, because, other than its relatively new Xbox, Microsoft, historically, doesn't sell hardware.

An Access Point (sometimes called a "Hotspot") is a place where you can tune in. Meaning you can carry in your laptop, turn it on and access the Internet. Starbucks advertises this service in a thousand locations. With the right gear, your home, shop or office becomes an access point. You'll not only be seeing Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) or Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) in coffeeshops, but hotels, airports and other places where computer-users gather.

Can a hacker break into your company or Internet files through one of these systems? Yes, but think about it. Most of our personal information is so prosaic no one wants it. The inventing engineers have this situation mostly under control at this time, however, and promise even fewer future problems, meaning even tighter security systems are coming.

At present, though, I wouldn't do my banking through a Wi-Fi system.

Security and surveillance -- remote (Wi-Fi) IP video -- is the second part of this report, because, as a value-added, sign-based package, you can offer your customers additional service by including Wi-Fi-linked, Internet-based, digital, micro-surveillance television cameras installed (by others) in your monument signs, billboards, cabinet signs and channel letters.

Think about it. The Sept. 11 attack intensified everyone's interest in preventive surveillance, and you can help. Today, the emphasis is moving from the property-protecting video cameras to people -protecting digital-video recorders (DVRs) that are linked to Web-based systems.

DVR images, depending upon the accompanying software, can include "content-aware" intelligence that alerts its overseers when certain parts of a picture do, or do not, move. Systems of this kind can also alert Security if a door is opened, and it can simultaneously e-mail images to a second location -- the police, for example.

To give you an idea of its reach, consider that one installed system reads and responds to employee badges; another alerts store management if a checkout line gets too long, and a third, located in a shipper's traffic-control area, reads and responds to bar codes printed on boxes.

Many systems are mounted with audio-sensing devices that will tag Security if the unit senses a slamming car door or, worse, "hears" a gunshot. You can also include software controls that can close gates and doors, as well as turn alarms on and off.

Depending upon a system's bandwidth, security systems can include up to 16 real-time DVR units. The systems can also feed their captured images into multiple Web-browser systems so that security personnel can share the images with law-enforcement agencies. This same video-data can be sent to a Web server and multicast for universal distribution. It can even go to an individual, on foot, such as police and security staff, via system-linked, handheld palmtops.

In the shadow of George Orwell, the systems may eventually not only notify security, but e-mail real-time video images to concerned law-enforcement agencies. Via Wi-Fi, the images could also be picked up in police cars. Sign-mounted surveillance systems, with remote swivel/zoom DVRs, could track a fugitive in real time as he moves through a building until the police surprise him.

Remember, if you want to participate, you're not building security systems, you're building the platform, meaning you're making your sign(s) available for the systems. You'll want to form working agreements with a competent and experienced security company that installs and services Internet-linked DVR systems before you suggest the system to your customer.

Technology's miniaturization means DVRs won't crowd most electric signs. Wi-Fi technology requires a small transmitter and an unnoticeable, pencil-sized antenna. Unless you tell people, no one will notice if the system is installed in new, or freshly serviced, signs.

Of course, the worst situation occurs when it records you after Happy Hour, say, when you've forgotten your public manners. As I said earlier, sign-mounted, video surveillance systems could improve all our behaviors.

Wi-Fi Promo -- Free with McDonald's Combo Meal McDonald's Restaurants, on March 11, announced one hour of free, high-speed Wi-Fi access to anyone purchasing a combination meal in 10 Manhattan locations. Soon, 300 locations -- New York City, Chicago and a yet-to-be-named California city -- will promote similar offers. McDonald's says window signs will alert burger-buyers of the "Hot Spot" stores. It says a second hour of surfing will cost $3, unless the customer buys another combo meal. The free offer will extend for three months. Cometa Networks, the supplier of McDonald's Internet bandwidth, has also formed agreements with Dunkin Donuts, Kinko's, Border's Books, five major hotel chains and several international airports. The Associated Press reported that the McDonald's announcement coincided with Intel's release of its Centrino 802.11b-based microprocessor chip. The Centrino chip contains a built-in Wi-Fi transceiver. Intel says more than 12 computer manufacturers will add the Centrino to their line of laptops.