I have ranted here a few times about how airports and
hotels (and Starbucks !! via T-Mobile) charge exorbitantly for wi-fi. Many have written me to agree. We seem to be in
that stage right now where wifi is still new enough, and people are desperate enough, that people tolerate these high
costs. Just due to the ease of implementation and the expanding reach of wi-fi, it seems to me logical that someday, we
will have near total coverage for little or no fee.
But we are not there yet. And as you can see from
this piece in the Times, we are actually a long way off. I was actually tickled to see the Times pick up the rant
against expensive wi-fi. The article complains noisily about hotels charging high rates for a connection and the
resulting consumer backlash. I guess the debate comes down to this: how do you perceive wi-fi as a feature of daily
life? Is it a luxury like the mini bar? Or is it a necessity like light: you just expect it to be on when you go
somewhere? Or somewhere in between?