The Latest WiFi Hatred
For years, plenty of people in the industry have said that the business models for WiFi hotspot companies wasn't going to work - and it's no surprise to find out that prediction has remained true. Still, for the past month, since Cometa has shut down, the press has come out with article after article after article acting as if it's some big surprise that WiFi hotspots don't make money. The latest, from the Associated Press even suggests that WiFi itself isn't going anywhere because no company has been able to build a successful hotspot business model. That's like saying Linux has no future, because you don't have to pay to get it. One of these days, reporters (and certain business people) will learn that just because something is free, it doesn't mean that it has no future. In fact, when something is free, it often has a much bigger future than otherwise.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Free Wi Fi
[ link to this | view in thread ]