VC's pushing wireless

Why so much business news coverage of wireless technology? Maybe, among other reasons, it's because venture capitalists hoping to profit have decided it's time to tout it:

When a large group of VCs all agree that something is hot, you can almost hear the bubble expanding. This is both good and bad, but everyone should go in with their eyes open.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer asked six local venture capitalists for their predictions for 2005, and four out of the six specifically named wireless as the hot area to watch in 2005. One of the two who didn't name it specifically danced pretty close to wireless with all of his predictions ("consumer home control, digital media and computing appliances; Ultra-microcomputing; Voice-over IP infrastructure"), so it seems reasonable to include his vote for wireless as well. As in any case where "five out of six experts agree!" you may wonder what that last one was thinking. In this case, his focus is on business intelligence and hosted applications, suggesting he's still looking back at the farm for the big enterprise applications and data services -- but even those are starting to go mobile as well.

....read it all: 5 Out Of 6 VCs Agree: Now Is The Time To Hype Wireless by Mike Masnick, The Feature, 15 January 2005

Masnick refers to Venture Capital: Six experts look into crystal ball for 2005, by John Cook, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 14 January 2005. High on wireless or VoIP in '05, according to Cook, and all but one in Seattle:

• Steve Arnold, Polaris Venture Partners
• Greg Gottesman, Madrona Venture Group
• Len Jordan, Frazier Technology Ventures
• Bill McAleer, Voyager Capital
• Melissa Widner, SeaPoint Ventures, Bellevue