Looking back on some of my older posts I have decided that sometimes I risk turning into a bit of a doom and gloom blogger, which isn't really what I am like at all. So I have decided that I will do some regular posts from here on in under the title " Reasons to be Cheerful" ( That should ring bells for any old Ian Dury fans out there).
So this first Reasons To Be Cheerfull post is about Free WiFi. Why? Well, for no particular reason other than I was browsing the news items today and I saw that McDonalds in the US is rolling out free WiFi to thousands of it's burger stores.
I don't live in the US and I am only occassionally in a MacDonalds burger store so what's the Reason to be Cheerfull?
Well it just struck me what a win-win Free WiFi is for all concerned. Average Joe laptop users like me get to be able to roam freely and still get on the Internet and the places that supply the Free WIFI attract more people because they are offering this free service. The fact that some Free WIFi hotspot providers are looking to inject a few ads into the service doesn't worry me at all and seems a fair deal for getting this service free.
In the UK there has been a big growth in the use of Broadband "dongles" to connect to the Internet but these are hideously expensive to use on a regular basis compared to the cost of home broadband. I have one of these dongles supplied by my work but the rate they negotiate for them is much cheaper than an ordinary user would pay - even so I try not to use it unless I have to.
Broadband is becoming increasingly such a vital part of our lives that it's great to see that there are ways of supplying this service to us all that arent going to cost us a fortune.
Hopefully MacDonalds will roll this out to the UK and then I will have even more Reasons To Be Cheerfull.
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11 comments:
The whole city of San Francisco is WiFi free. I think they boast a little about this, but I think it is actually due to the fact that it is such a crowded city, and has so many office buildings that it is impossible NOT to be. :)
That sounds like an excellent service and I guess means that people arent limited in their ability to use the internet by a limited ability to pay. I assume it must be the city that pays for it - how do they fund it? Business sponsorships, ads etc?
It is also a win-win for laptop thieves. I have taken to carrying a laptop lock with me and locking it to a chair. Someone had their laptop stolen at a coffee shop nearby. He put a sign up later announcing that his master's thesis was on there without a backup, and begging for it to be returned.
I had a laptop stolen from my car that was parked behind my house a couple of years ago. Poor guy if he had his thesis on it.
That'd be one more reason for me to visit McDonalds, which, since our reasons for going there is zero, now gives us exactly 1 reason and then only when we're traveling. We stopped at one last weekend on the way to my mother-in-law's. It was the first time in months and it'll be a long time before we stop at one again.
Instead of something from McDonalds, I'd much rather have fish and chips like I was introduced to 35 years ago in Dunoon. Unfortunately, it's just not quite the same anywhere I've found here in the states.
We don't let our laptops out of our sight if we're in a public place. That's not to say they couldn't be taken out of our car or motorhome, but we do, at least, always lock them.
Mike - I suppose you could always buy a nice take-away meal from somewhere else and then park just outside the MacDonalds and use their free WiFi - that way you get the best of both worlds LOL
Actually, since I'm retired, we do quite a bit of traveling when I'm not doing a contract job. We're going to switching over to a provider that has a program where your cell phone can serve as a broadband modem, so we'll be able have laptop internet access no mater where we're at, unless there's no cell phone service.
I hope the McDonalds here gets free wifi. But I doubt it... This town always seems to be left out on things like that.
I guess the more rural areas tend to sometimes be slower getting stuff. Not enough folk so companies tend to be less interested. If the outside companies don't make things happen then local folk sometimes need to do it themselves.
I was reading about rural communities in the UK who set up community wireless networks. - They did it because there was no prospect of a decent cable connection. It sounded as if they were making a very good job of it too.
I"m not sure how SF funds their wifi, perhaps the glbt pays them under the table for political favors? ;)
Bunc, you will be surprised to know that we have innumerable places, coffee shops and restaurants all over India, though mainly in the cities, with free WiFi. Since my home is frequented by lap top toting youngsters I too have put in a WiFi gadget and the kids simply love it. I sit and work on a desk top, and so it does not matter to me when I go out, but I see people all over the place using the free WiFi provided.
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