Josh there is such thing as everywhere Wi-Fi. Sprint and Verizon both offer wireless broadband access via their EVDO networks. The speeds and coverage in Seattle are pretty good and will be getting better as the networks get upgraded.

The park I can understand: plenty of people work, read, do research, etc., in the park. (At least most parks -- no reason to put wi-fi in that dump next to the county courthouse.)

The bus, too: people commute on buses, so why not have access? (Lots of buses, of course, already have access, and again, there are exceptions: no reason to put wi-fi on the 174.)

But the street? Why, so people can drive while composing emails? Didn't we just ban cellphone use while driving? What exactly is the point of wi-fi in the street?

And don't even get me started on bars. It's bad enough when you see morons who read books in bars. The last thing this city needs is more goobers who don't know what a bar is for. (Not to mention the risks associated with drinking and surfing.) Although it would be ridiculous beyond belief, it seems that if bars want to have internet access, they can pay for it privately. Why should the city pay for bar patrons' web access?

It's a page B1 story in today's Wall Street Journal, too.

The signal of the wi-fi on the 550, when available at all, is usually so weak that maybe you can pull up one or two pages between Bellevue and downtown. Same with the signal in Columbia City most of the time.

The real winner is going to be wi-max (clearwire). As the size of the equipment goes down, every device will have it available just like every laptop has built-in wi-fi now. And wi-max has a much better range.

This is all part of a concerted media attack attempting to force people to ditch free Wi-Fi - which people use - and switch to WiMAX - which costs money.

Don't believe the lies. They want your money, and they're not afraid to lie cheat and steal to get it.

I use my phone to access the internet on my laptop. I get 4x dialup speed and it's on anywhere.

Joykiller, pray tell just what is a bar for? Is it for your dog to take a shit on my foot? For your yahoo buddies to scream obscenities at each other? If I'm reading a book in a bar, what skin is it off of your nose?

The networks are spotty and difficult for computers to connect to. Citizens aren't going to support a service that's essentially useless.

Umm Used wi-fi on the 174 while giggling at the lady bus driver who always yells at people about the fare. It's true she doesn't understand that when she's going north and stops at 112th she is already in the Seattle zone.

My treo gets the net everywhere so I don't boot the computer up on the bus to often.

Do you actually want to help build a mesh network? Check out SeattleWireless.net

http://seattlewireless.net/

I actually use Seattle WiFi on the Ave. Why? Because some of the best coffee shops there have shitty wireless and Seattle WiFi is better. Now if only they get free wireless in the parks and the airport.

@7, bars are places for drinking, watching sports, and, to a lesser extent, socializing. They should be dimly lit, have music that is neither too loud nor too soft, and keep windows to a minimum (so as not to remind patrons that they're drunk on a Sunday afternoon).

When I see people reading books in bars, I think, "Hmm. They must have mistaken this place for a cafe or public library."

The short answer to your question is that people who read books in bars are morons, and I hate it when there are morons sharing space with me.

You know, out here in Minnesota, Minneapolis is pretty damn thankful for their Muni Wifi...

http://minneapolis.metblogs.com/archives/2007/08/35w_bridge_muni.phtml

Fnarf, I like reading books in bars too.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around the argument that people who read are morons.

So what about people who stop in to a bar to have a quiet drink, sans book? Are they morons too?

Oh, and people who go to bars to watch sports are morons. In fact, anyone who goes to a bar that has a television is a moron.

If we just pay every coffee shop in Seattle to set up a free wi-fi network, Seattle will be blanketed instantly.

@16 - but what about when the World Cup is on and you want to watch it on widescreen with some beers like you would in any other country in the world?

11. I don't buy it. Seattle WiFi doesn't work at Trabant, at Solstice, at Cafe on the Ave, and these locales are either on the Ave or less than 100 feet away.

Where are you using it? Right on the sidewalk of University Way?

A lot of my people (my crew, my neighbors) go all day without using a computer. Try it some time. The world will not end because you didn't turn on your PC three hours.

I've done my best thinking sitting alone in a bar over a glass of scotch. It depends on the place you go to I guess.

SeattleWireless? Sorry, I tried to get into it years ago but:

1) They never wanted to become an official non-profit, which would get them taken more seriously. Nobody is gonna grant roof access to a random bunch of nerds.
2) Always interested in the "how" not the "why".
3) Had the attitude that if built, internet access was a side-effect and not the whole reason for building it in the first place. Internet *is* the reason for a community wireless network.
4) Never had a proper mission statement, I see this has changed though which is a very good thing.

but most important...

5) It is very, very, very, very hard to create a mesh style network using tcp/ip over 802.11b/g. Very hard. Impossible, I'd say. Because of this, I came to the conclusion that the goals of SeattleWireless were unworkable from a pure engineering standpoint.

i'll add one thing though... getting 3 mile links working on cheap consumer gear is really fun :-). So while it might be an unworkable goal, it *is* cool stuff to play with!

@15: I said people who read in bars are morons. I did not say that people who read are morons. Perhaps you should, you know, READ the freaking comment.

There are billions of places that are better suited for reading than bars. That is why people who bring books into bars are morons.

As for having a quiet drink -- no, those people have it exactly right. That is what bars are for. They're places to drink, not research libraries.

What if I'm reading about drinking? Is that okay, Mr. Bar Nazi?

@15 There are billions of places that are better suited for reading than bars.

Since when does fun have anything to do with optimized productivity?

...maybe if you're Ayn Rand...

But what about when you have a book that can only be read drunk, like anything from Ann Coulter or The Davinci Code?

I say someone needs to make a cafe that serves booze, that way everyone is happy.

Here's a compromise: you can read in bars, but only bars on Capitol Hill. That way I never have to see you idiots turning bars into libraries.

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