Wandering the World of Wireless

I'm posting this from the Austin Java Cafe, downtown branch, my first experience with public wireless networks. This sort of access used to be a revenue item for businesses, but now most places are offering it for free. It's the kind of sea change that seems to define our world these days: a business that looked like a lock for growth is just as likely to implode as explode in growth. Starbucks wants to charge you for this, as does Borders. Independent alternatives like this coffeehouse and Austin's great bookshop Bookpeople pitch it in for free. Go independents!

Free wireless access in public can be problematic, I hear from the experts at the computer journals. A story out on the Information Week blog reports that Wi-Fi at conferences and in hotels is pretty abysmal. I'm still pretty new at this stuff, so I don't have first-hand experience to share. But that blogger's picture of dozens of people sitting at a conference, laptops on laps while they "attend" a talk and try to log onto their e-mail systems, is not inspiring. I imagine that teaching anyplace where there's laptops allowed in the classroom also introduces this distraction.

Last night we saw a commercial from HP, advertising this very wireless ability for students now on the lookout for a cool laptop. Needless to say, the connection the TV promoted didn't involve reading professors' books on their screens. No, HP decided to promote the idea that their laptops were fast, so students could watch movies while they were in class.

There are times when staying focused is just the thing that is required. Seems like classrooms are a place for that, as well as on the road while visiting your Mom. I'm headed to Las Vegas in about a week to help my mom move to a new apartment, and since I've gotten this wireless card installed, I imagined a few Wi-Fi sessions while in Vegas to check on the rest of the world. Maybe not a good idea. Visiting mom as she bears down on 80 and changes her living space is at least as important as classroom time. Come to think of it, I guess they're both learning situations. I'm just glad I'll have my brothers and sister on hand to help with my lessons out there in the desert.