Hot Town, Summer in the City
At first the “Free Wi-Fi” flyers could only be spotted in Austin coffee houses. 
Now hot spots are everywhere: Lovejoy’s Bar, Republic Square Park, Zen restaurants, libraries, City Hall, Chango’s (yet another reason to love this place), Alamo Drafthouse, Texas French Bread, Longhorn Collision Center, the airport, Driskill Hotel, Schlotzky’s, Book People, etc. Soon the entire city of Austin will be hot: Newsweek reports that with around 50 free hotspots, Austin has more free wireless access any than place on the planet.
This week’s Chron has the scoop on how Richard MacKinnon and the Wireless City Project are heating up Austin’s reputation as a tech leader.
Money quote: “… people driving by in their cars know that there’s a hot spot in Republic Square Park now and so what they’re doing is just pulling into a parking space over by the park ? or anywhere within range of that transmitter, or any other for that matter, checking their e-mail, and then take off. It’s pretty amazing.”
Out of curiosity, I checked to how other places stacked up. Here’s some approximations:
Chicago: 36 free hotspots
San Francisco: 33 free hotspots (doubtful)
Mississippi: 12 free hotspots
Atlanta: 44 free hotspots
Cincinnati: 4 free hotspots
Lexington: 4 free hotspots
Louisville: 12 free hotspots
Moscow, Idaho 11 free hotspots
Boston: 21 free hotspots
Portland: 40 free hotspots
Baton Rouge: 11 free hotspots
Austin Wi-Fi resources:
Austin Wireless City
Austin Free-Net
Austin Unleashed
June 14th, 2004
Tommy
Monday, June 14, 2004
Check this out:
Texas to Provide Free Internet Access at Rest Areas
Travelers on Texas’ highways will soon be able to send e-mails for free at the state’s 84 rest areas and 12 travel information centers, according to The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). TxDOT is currently accepting bids from companies willing to provide free wireless Internet access at the state’s rest areas and travel information centers. Bids will be accepted until June 25, and a provider will be chosen in July. Andy Keith, manager of TxDOT’s maintenance division, says the motivation behind the plan to offer free Wi-Fi was driver safety. Keith says TxDOT hopes access to free Wi-Fi will encourage drivers to stop more frequently, thereby reducing the number of fatigue-related accidents. About 1,500 people die annually and another 77,000 are injured in fatigue-related crashes in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
TxDOT is also exploring the possibility of installing special kiosks where motorists without laptops can use a credit card to access an Internet-enabled computer in 15-minute increments.
Billy
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
I don’t really have the time to take advantage of free wi-fi either. Heck, I don’t even own a laptop so it doesn’t matter anyway. Last year about this time I was freelancing and basically hating it really. A laptop and coffee shop wi-fi action would have made a real difference, I think. Or I would have just accomplished very little and sat around getting jacked up on coffee…