Thursday
Jun192008
Do We Need "Warchalking"?
Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 04:30PM
Many of us are walking around with PDAs, Smartphones, and Laptops that can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi. That works great in our homes and often at our offices, but what about when we are travelling, at client sites, between meetings, etc.? How can we find a Wi-Fi hot spot, especially one that is free? Certainly booting up our devices every 100 feet to look for a network is a weak solution; I have sometimes felt that I looked like I was holding a Geiger Counter or a bomb sniffer as I stumbled about looking down at my Smartphone screen.
Starbucks has done a great job of telling users they can find Wi-Fi at every store, which pretty much covers every block in the U.S., although to date the rate plans have been a little pricey. Jiwire has a rather complete listing of Wi-Fi hot spots, along with the names and links to the service providers. Wi-Fi sharing services such as Meraki's "free the net" initiative in San Francisco are still in the early stages and the network is spotty. The roaming agreements between providers are still too haphazard to justify joining one of the networks (such as iPass, Boingo, T-Mobile Hotspot, Divine Management, or Surf and Sip) so sometimes it is important to find the right type of network that corresponds to one's service plan.
I wonder if there is still a place for warchalking. This was a trend to mark the availability of signals with chalk on a wall, much the way hobos used to mark friendly houses for the benefit of other hobos. Having web directories helps only whene one is connected to the internet, so kind of defeats the purpose unless one uses SMS for inquiries. I have yet to see Wi-Fi hot spot operators agree on a type of signage that would mark the availability of a network to anyone passing by.
In a few years, will we see ubiquitous, fast wireless networks (such as WiMAX) that obviate the need for zones? Will we have more hot spots, more cross-company roaming agreements, and some form of warchalking to knit together a virtual network? Or will we all still be stumbling around with our devices looking for a friendly signal? My bet is a little of all three, which is a sad state for the users.
Starbucks has done a great job of telling users they can find Wi-Fi at every store, which pretty much covers every block in the U.S., although to date the rate plans have been a little pricey. Jiwire has a rather complete listing of Wi-Fi hot spots, along with the names and links to the service providers. Wi-Fi sharing services such as Meraki's "free the net" initiative in San Francisco are still in the early stages and the network is spotty. The roaming agreements between providers are still too haphazard to justify joining one of the networks (such as iPass, Boingo, T-Mobile Hotspot, Divine Management, or Surf and Sip) so sometimes it is important to find the right type of network that corresponds to one's service plan.
I wonder if there is still a place for warchalking. This was a trend to mark the availability of signals with chalk on a wall, much the way hobos used to mark friendly houses for the benefit of other hobos. Having web directories helps only whene one is connected to the internet, so kind of defeats the purpose unless one uses SMS for inquiries. I have yet to see Wi-Fi hot spot operators agree on a type of signage that would mark the availability of a network to anyone passing by.
In a few years, will we see ubiquitous, fast wireless networks (such as WiMAX) that obviate the need for zones? Will we have more hot spots, more cross-company roaming agreements, and some form of warchalking to knit together a virtual network? Or will we all still be stumbling around with our devices looking for a friendly signal? My bet is a little of all three, which is a sad state for the users.
tagged hot spots, warchalking in Strategy, Web Services, mobility
hot spots, warchalking in Strategy, Web Services, mobility 