The term was created by a marketing firm because the wireless industry was looking for a user-friendly name to refer to some not so user-friendly technology known as IEEE 802.11 and the name stuck. Wi-Fi, often referred to as WiFi, wifi, wi-fi or wi fi, is often thought to be short for Wireless Fidelity and the organization that paid for the marketing firm is sometimes referred to as the Wireless Fidelity Alliance Inc.