Remember two or three years ago? Before Britney got fat, the dollar tanked, and the iPhone was only an Apple fanboy’s wildest dream? Back then urban computer nerds were promised fast, cheap, wireless Internet access courtesy of their good friends at the government.
I am, of course, talking about municipal Wi-Fi. In my fair city of Minneapolis things are under way with US Internet. Although I can’t sign up for it yet, the fledgling networking proved critical in the bridge disaster response.
Other cities are not having as much luck. Various explanations exists for the failure of municipal Wi-Fi, and even Google seems to be unable to pull of this feat. I believe the final nail in Wi-Fi’s coffin will be driven by 3G.
I have a Treo 700p on Sprints 3G network, and enjoy DSL like speedsthroughout the city, and even in Wisconsin Dells. Why would I bother with Wi-Fi, when my phone gives me lighting fast access to email, and can even be used to connect my laptop to the Internet?
As cell speeds increase, and cities struggle with Wi-Fi, more and more people will discover they don’t need municipal Wi-Fi. Poor Wi-Fi (sniff), we hardly knew ye.
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