John Dvorak on WIFI

In an article for PC mag.com tech commentator John Dvorak argued that the cellular companies are "going to do whatever they can to kill WI-FI." I think his hysteria is a bit misplaced. First, the prices for cellular wireless data services has begun to come down. All those Blackberries and other smart phones are forcing the move. Second, WIFI in some places has over promised while in other places it has performed quite well. As I travel around the country I find all sorts of WIFI opportunities - some are paid (Boingo and T-Mobile (I use Tmobile because I like the convenience of having coffee and computers) are two of the most prominent) along with lots of free WIFI - in Portland OR and Sacramento Airport to name two. In many business establishments WIFI is offered as an amenity. Ultimately, those two technologies will continue to merge - the price of the providers will continue to drop and many business establishments will (as Kevin Kelly called in in 10 Rules for the New Economy) "Embrace the Free!" I am not sure where these trends are going but with the number of 801.11 enabled computers (now even in most Windows machines) I am pretty sure that WIFI is not going to disappear and with the growth and development of so many free sites I am pretty sure that the cellular companies, if they want to maintain their business model will have to either add services or lower their price - or probably do both.

With that kind of trend happening - it sounds like the best of all worlds for the consumer.

Dvorak's comments could not have been more timely Meraki Networks announced that they would offer free wireless in downtown San Francisco. Hmmmm.