The Rants of Issachar
Friday, June 03, 2005
On wireless hotspots in town...
I wrote this up on Wednesday, but as you'll read, I didn't have internet access at the time... Then I forgot to post it when I got home. But here it is now...
I'm sitting at eclipps waiting to get my haircut, so I turned on my laptop to check for wireless net access. One unsecured hotspot, but not a free one. The web-browser takes me to some info on pricing. As a plus, they don't just demand that you have a plan on their little hotspot for access, you can pay with a cell phone account, credit card, paypal, or prepaid. Nice.
But frankly the cost pooches the deal. Six dollars for an hour, ten dollars for a day or thirty-five dollars for a month. That's a little steep, and it's enough to kill the interest from a casual surfer sitting in the salon across the street from the Mailboxes etc. store hosting the hotspot.
Maybe that's the best business plan for them. Maybe dropping the short connection price wouldn't up their volume sufficiently. I don't know, but I do know that I'm not going to be signing on at those prices.
I'm also not convinced that you can make a business of selling internet access in large amounts. Does anyone who already pays for net access at home feel like shelling out much more? Or will they just say "oh I'll wait until I get home"?
I still think the best use of wireless access in this context is an incentive. As in, "buy something and get a code for a half hour's time". The honour system would be cheaper, (as in you're a cheap loser if you hang around outside using the connection), but people would probably abuse it. Starbucks still hasn't come out with wireless for customers yet. For a company the size of starbucks the economies of scale should be very small. Using the wireless is like using the couch. They say "coming soon"... Which I take to mean it's coming 1 month after a major competitor implements it.
I'm sitting at eclipps waiting to get my haircut, so I turned on my laptop to check for wireless net access. One unsecured hotspot, but not a free one. The web-browser takes me to some info on pricing. As a plus, they don't just demand that you have a plan on their little hotspot for access, you can pay with a cell phone account, credit card, paypal, or prepaid. Nice.
But frankly the cost pooches the deal. Six dollars for an hour, ten dollars for a day or thirty-five dollars for a month. That's a little steep, and it's enough to kill the interest from a casual surfer sitting in the salon across the street from the Mailboxes etc. store hosting the hotspot.
Maybe that's the best business plan for them. Maybe dropping the short connection price wouldn't up their volume sufficiently. I don't know, but I do know that I'm not going to be signing on at those prices.
I'm also not convinced that you can make a business of selling internet access in large amounts. Does anyone who already pays for net access at home feel like shelling out much more? Or will they just say "oh I'll wait until I get home"?
I still think the best use of wireless access in this context is an incentive. As in, "buy something and get a code for a half hour's time". The honour system would be cheaper, (as in you're a cheap loser if you hang around outside using the connection), but people would probably abuse it. Starbucks still hasn't come out with wireless for customers yet. For a company the size of starbucks the economies of scale should be very small. Using the wireless is like using the couch. They say "coming soon"... Which I take to mean it's coming 1 month after a major competitor implements it.
