Note from the Editor: 'Ramblings from the Floor' are based on attendee activity during the Wireless Agenda 2000 events.

"What are these people doing here?"

The guy sitting next to me (his business card lists his job title as 'Innovator' of an e-commerce development company) is shaking his head at the people filing into the Grand Ballroom of the Austin Renaissance Hotel. The Sunday event is a Microsoft fete of companies who have hopped onboard with their Mobility initiative. Ten companies are lined up to show off their wares -- none of them using Microsoft hardware or software.

"The thing that gets me is, half of these people have no idea what 'wireless data' really means."

I counter that tomorrow's University4Mobility should handle some of that. Andrew Seybold has a certain way of breaking down the Xs and Os (or in this case, the "all-caps-no-exceptions" club like CDMA, TDMA, EDGE) of the fledgling industry.

"Oh, I'm not worried about the people who are going to Andy's thing. I'm worried about the people who are getting their corporate wireless strategy from the latest issue of 'FAST Company' or 'Red Herring,'" he says.

It's a valid argument. Over the next three hours, I hear people bandying about catch-phrases such as 'location-based services' and 'wire-free paradigm' without the slightest idea of what it means. Fortunately, the numbers even out, and more developers and gurus make their way into the banquet hall.

The mood is a little tense. The people who know what is going on are treating this as another attempt to get their company's message out, or another crack at an open bar. The CEOs of the new start-ups are pushing hard on anyone who will listen, and some who don't. "We've got the patent that will secure our 3G dominance..." "It's a killer app, and as soon as we get acquired..."

One of the people behind me chuckles. "It's like a feeding frenzy of sharks doped up on Promazine."

The people trotted out on stage at least have an idea what's going on. Evan Some of SmartServ gives a good example of perseverance -- their company has been delivering wireless solutions for eleven years, waiting for the market to catch up. Evan reels off a list of technologies that were supposed to bring on the wireless revolution. Looks like their wave has arrived, and the financial sector is all over their services.

Bad news for a lot of WAP developers in America... the prevalent tone from many of the speakers is that WAP has little chance of succeeding on this side of the pond. One speaker repeatedly used the phrase "We have to move beyond WAP."

Randy Granovetter, Microsoft's director of Global Business Development for Collaboration and Mobility, takes the stage and sounds immediately like someone who didn't have to take a long flight from Redmond to Austin. She's preaching the gospel of education. "We have to educate the market on what wireless can do for their companies. We have to educate consumers on the benefits of wireless data."

She's a good spokesperson for the movement. The guy next to me hopes she educates members of the audience who only see wireless technology as the next fat cash cow.