Microsoft teams with JiWire to offer “free” WiFi in a town near you
You see movies in which people can surf to their heart’s content no matter where they are. And we dream of one day being able to pull our laptop or PDA out in a park or on the beach and be able to connect to the same high-speed goodness we get in our homes and offices. Microsoft is trying their best to get that ball rolling by teaming up with JiWire to offer "free" WiFi in municipalities all over. We say "free," because like most things, there’s a catch…in the form of in-your-face ad placement. The ads are being used as the primary revenue subsidy for this project, and has rolled out in only Portland, OR and Oakland County, MI so far. Microsoft now joins Google in yet another Google-got-there-first enterprise. Google has created a similar concept that has launched in San Francisco.
While google has gotten there first it still a wait and see process takes longer either M or G and if one of them actually goes on to offer this nation wide.
nationwide? not sure but i think it will be city by city because like everything else its a business. Still traditional wifi so your not talking about national coverage, just select hotspots. I personally think that if the telcos/cell co. could get their heads out of you know where they could see that they could do this much much sooner that anyone else.
How about this. Sell the idea to local governments who can pay for it by raising taxes. People don’t like ads.
And people like taxes?
People don’t like taxes being raise.
I’m not sure how they’re going to jam you with ads, but I’m sure that between the time they announce it and the “Go-Live” someone will come up with a way to get around their ads.
Firefox’s Ad Block extension kills 95% of most annoying crap at home. Someone will just make something similar.