Comments on: 1,000 Californian Starbucks offering free wifi test

By: SMS Text News » Archives » AT&T’s free WiFi at Starbucks; why not totally free for everyone?

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:22:56 +0000

[...] October last year, Starbucks tested free WiFi in 1,000 Starbucks across California? (Here’s our coverage of [...]

By: DaveB

DaveB — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:56:31 +0000

You need to get Devicescape for the N95 to automate logins. It works a treat on mine with BTOpenzone and I will try it on T-Mobile soon.

By: carlo

carlo — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:36:17 +0000

The prediction is no closer to coming true at all. They're not "testing" free Wi-Fi, they're making the hotspots free in response to the wildfires in southern California, as their press release makes clear. They did something similar after hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast in 2005 and after other disasters. See Glenn Fleishman's excellent explanation of why the original prediction that Starbucks' Wi-Fi will go free is way wide of the mark.

By: Steve Procter

Steve Procter — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:17:06 +0000

I’m spending a bit of time out here in Egypt and I can confirm that Starbucks have been offering free WiFi for yonks. I don’t particularly use it for VOIP because the line speeds out here back to the UK aren’t fantastic, although I see a lot of locals do just that. But a Sunday morning just wouldn’t be the same without downloading my 40MB copy of The Sunday Times overseas edition whilst sipping a double espresso. And even little dodgy Alf Leila coffee shop offers free wifi as long as you buy his turkish coffee and puff on the delicious shisha pipes.

So maybe Egypt is one of those test-beds for global corporations. But it has always struck me as the obvious model – Starbucks sell coffee, not internet time; so do whatever is needed to pull in the punters to buy your coffee. But don’t let yourself get diverted into doing things outside your core offering.