Today’s NYT has an articleabout the economics of providing free wi-fi to customers, and looks in particular at Starbucks, McDonald’s and Panera. The first uses T-Mobile Hotspot for its wireless, which is not free (though I am using it right now, gratis, as part of a Vista promotion that gives you free access until May). McD’s charges $3 for two hours of access (unless you have a DS), and the latter provides its service free to snag the post-lunch-rush crowd that tends to linger.
It never comes right out to say it really, but in its conclusion the piece indirectly calls on $bux to bring on the free intertubes, as a kind of homage to the service movie theaters provided in the past.
Of course, I agree with that sentiment. I usually patronize Think Coffee on Mercer almost exclusively if I intend to stay on the premises for a bit (Joe is the way to go on the go) because it offers free wifi and (recently) solid espresso drinks, but its internet has been down for a week. So I bought a $2 bottle of water at SB to make the most of my free internets. I’m bitter that I would usually have to pay for internet access, so that’s all they’re going to get from me. At Think, I make it a practice to buy something at least once hour, be it refill or granola bar, and that’s generally how I operate - I feel like it’s the moral high ground.
I’d do the same at ‘bucks if they let me go intertubing for free all the time. I realize that leeches who make no such patronage exist, and it’s a risk, but if independent shop owners can offer it, why can’t a huge corporation that’s growing faster than McDonald’s do the same? Oh, and make better fucking espresso. Automatic espresso machines are the lose.
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