[Cialug] WiFi

[Bryan Baker]

It goes both ways, many public places have (beer) "free" (usually ad 
supported, or in the case of hotels, silently part of your room cost) 
access points, but other areas will often have non-free wireless. 
Sometimes both exist w/in a given range. I think they feel they can 
make a profit off it, if there is no alternative access point, and if 
people (mostly in their coffee shop) want to hang out there and have 
access, they will have little choice - I know there are several people 
who already treat B&N coffee shop as if it were their own personal 
office, for those people, it may be worth the price (or it may annoy 
them enough to leave sooner and free up space for other customers). It 
would have been nice if they'd gone w/ something more like iSpot, which 
is essentially a "draw" feature, designed to get people to come to your 
place, and draw them to other places who also have it to keep the 
minutes flowing, which is essentially ad driven (in it's own way).

The other "free" alternative is usually some shlub who just leaves 
their AP open because they just plugged it in and it worked that way. 
That's kinda like the "free" swimming pool in someone's back yard where 
the gate's unlocked. Yeah, it's inviting, and easy to access, but not 
really legal if they decide they don't want you there.


On Oct 10, 2005, at 4:19 PM, David Stout wrote:
> Barnes & Noble just sent me a FREE 2-hour Wi-Fi trial to use in there 
> store. Someone please correct me if I am wrong but it has been my 
> assumption that wifi is free in most public places anyway like coffee 
> shops, airports, and I know it was in the last hotel I stayed in. So 
> why would Barnes & Noble book stores think anyone would pay to use 
> wifi in there store?
>
>
> David Stout
> Data Repository Analyst
>
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--
Bryan Baker
Technology Advocate
Iowa Legal Aid
Suite 230
1111 9th Street
Des Moines, Ia 50314-2527

(515) 243-2151 (x1635)

http://www.iowalegalaid.org
bbaker at iowalaw.org