Is charging for WI-FI a good or bad idea?
Have you ever used the WI-FI connection of a Starbucks, Panara, or McDonalds? If you have, did you have to pay a fee for the connection?
WI-FI in restaurants is becoming more and more popular. Nowadays, you can walk into almost any Starbucks, sit down and connect to the internet. However, often this internet access is not free. Instead, the connection comes at a price. You may pay $3 an hour, $1 for 30 minutes, or even $6 an hour.
Is this fee hurting or harming businesses? In Randall Stross's article, "What Starbucks Can Learn From the Movie Palace," he talks about the pros and cons of having WI-FI in restaurants such as Panara and Starbucks.
Personally, I had never thought about whether or not paying a fee for WI-FI was hurting or helping businesses. However, I found Randall Stross's article to be extremely interesting. Is it really beneficial for companies to have WI-FI if they are forcing customers to pay a fee to use it? I know that I won't pay for a WI-FI connection if I'm out somewhere. (Then again, this may be because my dad has EVDO, but hey.)