Wireless Hotspots are hot. At least, this is what In-Stat tries to tell us.
In fact they are… But not the way they think, I think.
I have been on the road in Europe for quite some years now, and have been a heavy mobile user forever. I was one of the first users in my surroundings to use a notebook computer and Nokia 2110 with a cable and Gold Card modem of Psion when travelling around. (I still have it. Picture available ;-) )
People had never seen about this. A wireless connection over a gsm phone?!
After that modems got build into the gsm phones itself. You just needed a cable for the connection to your notebook. Both ways needed some attention, it did cost a bit, BUT it worked… on 9600 bps… So text only, please!
Now we are having a new era with all mobile possibilities like: UMTS, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi, and so on. And even more to come.
There is only one thing I really don’t understand. Why not drop the prices to a normal level?
I know the business users don’t care about the costs, because they can get it back from their paid taxes.
But to my opinion, there are millions of people that would love to use a high (or at least normal) speed connection on vacation, at a reasonable price. For writing in their online diary, for their e-mail, for information on the place where they are.
I have been asked really absurd prices for a Wi-Fi connection in my room and I refuse to pay it.
I have my Treo 650 and a sub-notebook and take it with me being abroad. But most of the time I go to an Internet cafe. Forced by the stupendous amount of money I have to pay for a connection. And it doesn’t matter where I am: The Netherlands, Israel, Belgium, France, Spain or Germany…
It just doesn’t matter a thing…
Based on this article
Before on the crab: I and II