Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Relax and Have Another Slurpee While You Surf...
Posted by Brad Adrian in "ARTICLE" @ 03:00 AM
http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,79047,00.html
As more and more people become enamored with the idea of nationwide WiFi access and extending the Starbucks/T-Mobile model for providing WiFi connectivity, I guess it was inevitable that somebody would take it to some absurd extreme. Leave it to Toshiba and Circle K (yes, the petrol station people) to do just that.
Several news services reported the story similarly to ComputerWorld:
"The public access Wi-Fi "hot spot" market just got a little hotter as Toshiba Computer Systems Group (TCSG) formally launched a project to deploy 10,000 hot spots in the U.S. by the end of the year...Toshiba has an agreement with WorkingWild Inc., a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based public access Wi-Fi company, that plans to install Wi-Fi service in 15,000 Circle K convenience stores owned by Houston-based ConocoPhillips."
While I applaud companies that are willing to push the envelope with deployment of new technologies, I have to really wonder about the logic of making convenience stores WiFi hotspots. Sure, at Starbucks, enticing customers to stick around and order a second latte by offering WiFi connectivity might actually reach a breakeven point. But I'm having a hard time drawing the same conclusion when Slurpees and the threat of armed robbery are factored in!
Is it me, or would you hang out at a convenience store, surfing wirelessly? If not what kind of locations WOULD you spend time at with your WiFi toys?
As more and more people become enamored with the idea of nationwide WiFi access and extending the Starbucks/T-Mobile model for providing WiFi connectivity, I guess it was inevitable that somebody would take it to some absurd extreme. Leave it to Toshiba and Circle K (yes, the petrol station people) to do just that.
Several news services reported the story similarly to ComputerWorld:
"The public access Wi-Fi "hot spot" market just got a little hotter as Toshiba Computer Systems Group (TCSG) formally launched a project to deploy 10,000 hot spots in the U.S. by the end of the year...Toshiba has an agreement with WorkingWild Inc., a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based public access Wi-Fi company, that plans to install Wi-Fi service in 15,000 Circle K convenience stores owned by Houston-based ConocoPhillips."
While I applaud companies that are willing to push the envelope with deployment of new technologies, I have to really wonder about the logic of making convenience stores WiFi hotspots. Sure, at Starbucks, enticing customers to stick around and order a second latte by offering WiFi connectivity might actually reach a breakeven point. But I'm having a hard time drawing the same conclusion when Slurpees and the threat of armed robbery are factored in!
Is it me, or would you hang out at a convenience store, surfing wirelessly? If not what kind of locations WOULD you spend time at with your WiFi toys?
