[wplug] Wi-Fi Mapping in the Press

[A. McCullough]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <gregsim at telerama.com>
To: "General user list" <wplug at wplug.org>

> I agree with Doug.  Successful businesses usually have a "loss leader" -
> something they can give away free to draw in business.  Actually, extra
> bandwidth is pretty cheap.

I rarely post, preferring instead to learn quietly and out of the way, but I had
to put my two cents in on this. One of my favorite things to do on a weekend is
to go to my local Borders or Barnes & Noble, pick up a handful of books or
magazines, and then have myself a biscotti and a latté while I skim through my
selections. Most of them will go back on the shelf; indeed, many weeks all of
them will, but I have a notebook with me as I jot down the titles and authors of
books that interest me in particular. I will more than likely go home with one
of the magazines I picked up (almost always a computer magazine with a software
CD attached) and as I have the money, one or another of the books on my
ever-growing list will also go home with me. I tossed out $150 that way over
Christmas, admittedly thanks in part to a gift certificate!

The likelihood that I would have bought any of them, including the magazines,
without previewing 'em is pretty low. Did the bookstore lose out because I
bought their coffee and dessert treats while treating their establishment as a
library? IMHO, no: I find I buy MORE from them because of my weekend forays than
I would ever normally do as a walk-in customer. The twenty-five bulging
bookcases spread between my home and that of my significant other would stand in
mute confirmation of that fact. Yes, I will order some of those books online at
a reduced cost (especially the computer titles as they're wildly expensive) and
yes, I do frequent the Half-Price bookstores for the same reason, but all in
all, the bookstores profit in the end from allowing my habitual weekend book
previews.

I do graphics for a living, and am currently taking several online classes in
various programs to further my abilities. One of the things I'd * love* to do is
to complete a lesson at one of those bookstore cafés with a WiFi laptop. I can
see me trying to solve a particularly trying problem by looking up a technique
right then and there off the shelf, and more than likely buying the book that
helped me the most!

It's just the way I do things. I know my habits don't speak to the majority of
people out there, but one thing that does probably resonate is the inability to
afford an additional monthly charge for WiFi access in addition to all one's
other costs for existence. Free WiFi would be a major draw for my patronage to
an establishment that offered it.

Then all I'd have to do is be able to afford a WiFi laptop (grin)!

Just my opinion, FWIW.
Anna