Free Wi-Fi?
It looks like Metrofi's business model to get people to pay $20/mo has
failed. So by switching to a new model of free access but with banner
ads on the browser, it hopes to get enough customers to be profitable.
It doesn't have to spend money on marketing any more trying to get
customers. Also it doesn't need to do any billing thus saving money
right there. Will it survive? It depends on how local businesses agree
to spend ads money on this new model.
How about for consumers? FreeWiFi has been in existence for a long time
in Seattle, Spokane, New York, etc. In those cities, it's really free
without ads. Here in Cupertino, there's no free lunch with MetroFi. The
consumers will have to see if the ads are not annoying or if they're
not spywares. Also we need to ask if MetroFi is going to collect any
information from the users so that it can specifically target its ads.
So although it's tempting to have free WiFi access, I still believe
that it should not belong to residential areas. It should stay in
commercial areas only.
posted by Hann @ 1:07 PM
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1 Comments:
Well, I agree that it is concerning as to whether or not they will be "recording" where we surf, but as for the ads in the browser, just dont install their junk. I have used thier free service a couple of times now with my own browser and get no ads at all. All of these companies that "require" you to run their setup software are just trying to put ads in front of you. What most don't realize is that their is absolutely no reason at all to install anything, just use what you already have.
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