WiFi Wants to be Free

WiFi TOOK ANOTHER STEP TOWARD FREENESS TODAY. I've been predicting for a couple years now that ubiquitous free Wi-Fi is inevitable -- and not just because I'm an optimistic cheapskate.

In October, I predicted that Starbucks would "start rolling out free Wi-Fi access within one year." Today, that prediction came true. Starbucks announced that it's dumping longtime partner T-Mobile and switching to AT&T. People who use the Starbucks debit card will now get two hours per day of free WiFi. (The debit card itself is free.)

Boingo announced today special pricing for people who want to use its WiFi hotspots at airports and other locations with Apple iPhones, Microsoft Windows Mobile devices and Sony Ericsson phones. The new rate is just $8 per month. The new pricing will be rolled out on each platform at different times this year.

These two companies are leaders in what will become a nearly universal trend to start edging WiFi access toward free. They'll get cheaper and freer until users will simply scoff at any company that tries to charge for it.

The same market forces that are driving down the price of WiFi are pushing it into just about every kind of public transportation, from airplanes to trains to taxicabs. As I wrote in a recent blog posting on Computerworld.com, the reason transportation companies are scrambling to offer WiFi -- and the same reason WiFi is becoming cheap or free in locations that don't have wings or wheels -- is that 1) WiFi is most useful as a tool for competing with alternative companies; and 2) WiFi attracts business users with expense accounts who are generally willing to pay more for other services.

There's simply no down side to these trends, folks. Everybody loves WiFi -- the freer the better.

PS: Use RSS? Then subscribe to my Computerworld blog, "The World Is My Office."

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Worst Phone Concept Ever: Turkey Leg Phone

A company called Custom Phones made this TURKEY DINNER CONCEPT PHONE for an Indianapolis TV personality. It's just wrong, OK? I mean, at least make it a cell phone!

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It Had to Happen: Blu_Ray Brand Make-Up Hits

Hi-Def is just too, well, hi-def for regular makeup. TV presenters and others on any high-definition program look like they're wearing hideous masks. CARGO to the rescue: It's new line of BLU_RAY COSMETICS (yeah, with an underscore) is make-up that won't make you look like a ghoul on a high-def TV.

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Found Video

Check out this high-def, time-lapse video showing the city of San Francisco on February 8.

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Worst Concept Computer Ever: The Coffee Cup PC

The coming flexible-screen industry is all fun and games until someone actually builds something like this (don't worry: It's still a concept only). The Yuno PC mug is a PC BUILT INTO A COFFEE CUP. It lets you get weather, time, traffic reports and stocks on a touch-screen display, right on the cup. Presumably it runs on "Java." Hahahaha... oh, never mind.

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50% Of UK Men Would Give Up Sex for 50-Inch TV

Almost half of all men in Britain would GIVE UP SEX FOR A 50-INCH TV, according to a biased survey from UK retailer Comet.

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News You Can Lose

The Paris Hotel marquee in Las Vegas suffered a spectacular "Écran Bleu De la Mort" recently, according to pictures snapped by a vacationer. Photos show they finally got the system booted by morning, but that WASN'T VERY PRETTY EITHER.

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Bad Gadgets

The USB Massage Mouse comes with two conductive pads that you stick on your skin. The mouse sends electricity through them, which makes your muscles SPASM -- this is what the manufacturers call a "massage." The massaging mouse comes with several irrelevant options.

A new mouse on sale at USBfever comes complete with BUILT-IN SPEAKER AND MICROPHONE.

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Two New Movies Explore Apple Fanboy Nuttiness

It had to happen. Somebody made a documentary about the Apple Fanboy movement. It's called MacHEADS. Here comes the TRAILER! Another documentary about the Macintosh and it's fanatical followers called "WELCOME TO MACINTOSH" is also out. Here comes the OTHER TRAILER!

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The Art Gallery

A "squishable" soft caterpillar-like robot developed by Tufts University will be DISPLAYED in February and March at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The creepy robot, called the Softbot II, will be part of an exhibition called "Design and the Elastic Mind."

An exhibit commissioned by New York City's Pulse Art and created by an Australian organization called "The Glue Society" shows biblical events as seen from GOOGLE EARTH.

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Cell Phone Follies

A new cell phone concept by designer Tao Ma cuts cost and weight and boosts battery life by dispensing with the screen altogether. Instead, all functions and displays take place via LEDs below the translucent surface. In phone mode, the keypad is displayed. Other arrangements of lights and shapes light up in gaming, SMS and other modes. The concept specifies two AAA batteries recharged via USB.

A company in China has created a cell phone that's shaped and looks like a pack of cigarettes. Best of all, the battery case slides open to reveal a compartment that holds seven REAL CIGARETTES.

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Wacky Web Sites

Is there a site on the Internet you really hate? Now you can destroy it, using a chainsaw, dinosaurs, guns or even nukes using netdisaster.com

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Flog the Blog!

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Mystery Pic o' the Week

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