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Out of the Wi-Fi wilderness
April 6, 2006
Posted by Chris Sacca, Special Initiatives
In Wi-Fi terms, I can go just 19 steps from my front door and still get coverage. The nearest coffee shop seems within reach -- but signal strength-wise, there's not enough power to pick it up. And the signal definitely isn't strong enough to get to the restaurant kitty-corner from my place. Frankly, my home Wi-Fi connection works just enough to let me use it in the middle of oncoming traffic (especially dangerous considering that I live on a
Muni
line). As soon as I take that 20th step, I either lose signal altogether, or have to pay some crazy amount of dough to jump onto the Internet at a paid hotspot.
So when I'm out and about, how am I supposed to stay current on the filming of
M.C. Hammer's latest videos
in downtown San Francisco? Of course, I also need constant connectivity to keep tabs on the inventory of pirate supplies at
826 Valencia
. And without Wi-Fi, how else can I check in on
craigslist missed connections
in real time?
This is why I am especially excited to hear that the City and County of San Francisco
just chose the bid
from EarthLink and Google to offer
citywide Wi-Fi access
. If all goes well, construction will commence this year on a network that would provide it for free to virtually the entire city at speeds up to six times dial-up.
I can't wait for Wi-Fi everywhere. Who knows? Pretty soon I might even be able to wirelessly place an order with the
Tamale Lady
. But first, I need to dodge this streetcar bearing down on me -- yikes!
Update:
Revised first 3 sentences for clarity.
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