Wi-Fi at McDonald's
August 19th, 2005
I'm sure I will regret this, but ...
This seems to be a fairly weird opinion for somebody who calls himself "columnist". Striking quote: "The day is coming when travellers will either get free internet access at your restaurant or they’ll be looking for a restaurant down the road where it is free." Sure. But that day isn't here yet, and until that day, McDonald's can make a profit on the _extra_ service it's providing. It's not like the motel owner charging you for TV, but the motel owner charging you for room service. And he can continue to do that until the motel down the street offers free room service, or even longer if that other motel doesn't offer clean sheets.
Don't get me wrong: I would like to have wifi for free too. But I don't think getting wifi with your hamburger is a human right.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:18 PM In the UK it's not McDonalds that are making the money on WiFi, it's BT. BT Openzone is creaming profit on people who can't set this stuff up for themselves. And from past experience, it rarely works.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:18 PM Well, in the US now it's quite common to find big cities covered at 80% and more by wifi.. and I think that in next 10 years the same will be for some Europe countries. About McDonald's I think that is would be nice if wifi would be free of charge. So you can eat and then continue to sit and surf the net with your laptop/palm/smartphone.