“Wi-Bother” might be a better name for this new technology that seems to be floundering before it ever had a chance to prove itself. It is actually a funny situation since Intel has worked so hard to get Wi-Fi all the press that it receives today, only to attempt to slide this WiMax technology under our noses for coffee shops and airports.

Personally, I don’t think that WiMax has a chance. While the two wireless technologies do differ in specific areas, they will end up combating with each other eventually. May it be known now that I believe when they do finally begin to cross over each other, Wi-Fi will win because it already maintains such a nice foothold as it is.

Just as Intel helped popularize Wi-Fi, a short-range technology now widely used in airports and in coffee shops, the world’s largest chip maker hopes to usher in the “WiMAX era” — using the technology to displace cable and DSL Internet access and segments of the cellular phone market.

Yet as it heads into turf fiercely protected by the telecommunications and cable industries, WiMAX is likely to gain little traction, at least for several years, analysts said. The demand it does find may come mainly from rural markets outside the United States.