New Orleans with Wireless Internet
This past Tuesday New Orleans' debuted its wireless internet around the city. So far it covers the French Quarter and the center business district, with plans to cover the entire city within the next year. Although a number of large cities have been discussing such plans, notably Philadelphia, New Orleans is the first large city to implement such a plan.
I think this is a great opportunity for people and companies everywhere. To me, as a student, having wireless internet everywhere would mean that I could work from essentially any location around Boston, giving me a better quality of life. Rather than sitting in my room or the student center, I could go bum around Boston Commons on a nice day or sit in any coffee shop I can find. As laptops become mainstream, people tend to have them with them. With my 2.5 lb laptop, I have absolutely no reason NOT to generally carry it with me whenever the possibility of work could arise; it's probably lighter than many women's purses! Internet companies could also clearly benefit from making such deals with cities. The questions would arise about paying for internet, blocking the city's internet in areas that have their own (i.e. Starbucks) and more, but I think the opportunities far outweigh the potential detractors.
My only question revolving around this plan, is why New Orleans? A city in complete disrepair who cannot feed or house their citizens? A city which is struggling for its survival? It seems to me that it would be better to have a working city before implementing wireless internet. With so few people in New Orleans at this point, and many of those people poor or busy sorting through rubbish, it doesn't seem that too many people would be taking advantage of this wireless network. It hardly seems like a good place to try out a new idea. Hopefully New Orleans will get back on its feet and more cities will emulate the project, especially Boston!
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