Writes John Patrick (News.com): “Wi-Fi is one of those grassroots phenomena that will soon become as ubiquitous as the PC itself.”
Adds John:
Think about all the places where you have to “wait”–the car shop, medical offices, hotel lobbies, restaurants, hospital check-in areas and, of course, on a bus, train and in airport lounges.
Think about the concept of community services. When people go downtown, they naturally expect the local infrastructure to include streetlights, fire hydrants and parking spaces. Soon, I believe, they also will expect Wi-Fi connectivity. Sitting on a city park bench and checking e-mail will not seem so strange; in fact, it will be something people demand.
Not that everyone needs to be connected all the time, tethered to the Internet. But if people want or need to be connected to the Internet, they should be able to plug in. The Internet has transferred power from institutions to people. Isn’t it time to enable this power to become pervasive?
