What does WiFi stand for? - was - Re: [LINK] LA joins Philadelphia in Free city wide WiFi

[andrew clarke]

On Fri, Feb 16, 2007 at 06:37:42PM +1100, Adam Todd wrote:

> What does WiFi stand for?

I don't believe it stands for anything.  Wi-Fi is a brand name that was
commandeered by parts the media and general public to mean "wireless
Internet" (or "wireless LAN") because they thought it sounded clever.

A situation not dissimilar to how the "pod" in "iPod" was appropriated
for the (now essentially ubiquitous) term "podcast".  A clever name
perhaps, but with the downside that some people think they need an iPod
to listen to podcasts, which isn't the case.