WiFi Everywhere

If all the open APs you can find in most urban areas weren't enough evidence, today's New York Times Op-Ed, The Free Lane on the Information Highway, shows open-access WiFi is going mainstream.

WiFi holds the promise of bridging America's much discussed digital divide — if we make it ubiquitous and free to use, like the public library system. After all, just as roads and bridges were among the most important public investments in the industrial period, wireless access to the Internet is arguably the most crucial public investment of the information age.

Ubiquitous, unmetered WiFi access can help make the Internet available to everybody, with benefits that should be clear even to those unswayed by notions of "public good." Just as businesses benefit when their employees are literate (public schools and libraries) and when their customers can get to stores (public roads and mass transit), they benefit when customers can easily search their online offerings to buy their e-commerce or entertainment products.

Posted by Wendy at March 19, 2004 08:06 AM | TrackBack