Since the arrival of Bluetooth, an interesting question has been whether the future would bring a peaceful and harmonious cooperation between these two WPAN technologies. As some have posed, will it be a battle to the death?¹⁵ In my opinion, the initial rumors of IrDA's death were greatly exaggerated. The initial hype seems to be giving way to an understanding. While a definite overlap does exist between Bluetooth and IrDA in certain usage models, there are other usage models for which one clearly outperforms the other. Table 2 highlights the fundamental differences between Bluetooth and IrDA. It suggests potential synergistic solutions when complementary strengths are combined in a single device. The future should hold increasing cooperation between these two technologies. In some situations, both Bluetooth and IrDA transceivers will co-exist in the same device. They will leverage their respective strengths to create an even better user experience than is currently possible with either technology alone.¹⁶

In conclusion, wireless personal-area networks encompass a number of usage models that involve wireless data movement within a relatively short range. For these usage models, interoperability (rather than access to an infrastructure) may be the killer application. A wireless-headset user may care very little about whether his or her headset can access the Internet. But that user will care a great deal if that headset can't play music from the laptop and the stereo or roam between the two. The primary value of WPANs lies in mobile devices doing meaningful things together while operating independently of a network infrastructure. For those WPAN devices that need access to the network, access-point capabilities are an available and valuable usage model. When it makes sense to do so, WPAN devices may access an available network infrastructure. When such network connections aren't required, however, they simply operate independently.