El_Machinae
Apr 6 2006, 09:44 PM
My concern is that people will quickly figure out how to abuse (not use, but over-use) the system for their own profit or crimes
QUOTE |
San Francisco has picked US Internet firms Google and Earthlink to enable computer users to get online wirelessly for free from any nook or cranny in the city.
Selection of a top bid by a city committee cleared the way for San Francisco to work out the details of the deal with the companies on Thursday.
"We are thrilled that the city of San Francisco has accepted our joint bid with Earthlink to provide WiFi access citywide," Google said in a prepared statement.
"We look forward to continuing the planning process with the city and Earthlink and are eager to provide free WiFi to the residents of San Francisco," it said.
City officials said they hope San Francisco will be a wireless "hot spot" by year's end.
Funding for the project is expected to come entirely from the companies.
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bustedkarma
Apr 6 2006, 09:51 PM
Google has been buying up a ton of Dark Fiber (which sounds truly ominous, but its really just prelayed fiber that no one is really using) for years now. I'd anticipate the San Francisco "Hot Spot" and the Dark Fiber are linked.
Soon, Google will assimilate us all. Your deepest desires and darkest secrets will become searchable via a very easy to use and install applet.
That which cannot be annexed by the newly sentient (and nearly omnipotent) Google AI, will be purged from existence by Google Shock Troopers. Only stock holders will be spared.
/truestory.
El_Machinae
Apr 6 2006, 10:04 PM
I'm often baffled at what they can provide, free to the consumer. The fact that I'm allowed gigs of information, for free, is too cool.
I just hope we make good use of this information.
Pallantides
Apr 6 2006, 11:07 PM
Hmm that's cool, but been done before. St. Cloud, Florida where my uncle lives has a free Wi-Fi network running across the city.
hyzmarca
Apr 6 2006, 11:15 PM
The big question is how will they impliment access. Will every citizen have to apply for an acount and thus foster a big brother system where the city government automaticly knows everything that you've downloaded or will they allow untracable anyomous access and become known as the child pornography capitol of the world?
Kanada Ten
Apr 6 2006, 11:49 PM
In Chicago, the idea is free access for everyone but aimed specifically at travellers, tourists, commuters (AKA non-Chicago residents). The revenue will be generated by "local" ads, similar to Google's approach; ie, the tourist searches for "lunch" and the first four hits are paid ads. With so many cities talking Wi-Fi, I'm not too concerned about anyone claiming CPCotW.
El_Machinae
Apr 7 2006, 03:02 PM
That's one of my concerns, child porn abuse. My other concern is that people will figure out how to consume massive amounts of bandwidth for profit (and since they're not paying for the bandwidth personally, ANY profit would be worth their time).
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