On Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:11:17 -0500, Paul Miner
<pmi...@elrancho.invalid> wrote:
>On Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:03:25 -0700,
nob...@nada.com wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:45:49 -0500, Paul Miner
>><pmi...@elrancho.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:27:49 -0700, XS11E <xs1...@SPAMyahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Paul Miner <pmi...@elrancho.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> As most of us know, "ubiquitous WiFi" is a complete joke.
>>>>
>>>>Most of us know no such thing. I find free WiFi is "ubiquitous" and
>>>>works perfectly every where I've ever used it but I've never tried in
>>>>Seattle....
>>>
>>>I don't believe you. My experiences have indicated exactly the opposite.
>>
>>Exactly. Your personal experiences differ. Big surprise. Who's got
>>data? And where is it you can't find a Starbucks?
>
>Starbucks? What does that have to do with anything? OK, taking your lead,
>there seem to be approximately 11,000 Starbucks locations in the US, a
>number that's apparently declining slowly in recent years.
><
http://www.statisticbrain.com/starbucks-company-statistics/>
>
>How many would there have to be before WiFi via Starbucks would be
>reasonably convenient? 11 million? 111 million? 11 billion? How many
>locations would it take to equal the coverage of a decent nationwide cell
>provider?
If you are taking "wifi is ubiquitous" to mean it has the coverage of
a cell provider, then it's not ubiquitous. But if you want to enforce
the definition strictly, neither is cell phone service. If you have to
have access to wifi, there is almost always someplace not too far
away, coffee shop, hotel, library, truck stop, etc. where you can hook
up. If you expect to get wifi anywhere you are standing, you will be
disappointed, just as you will with cell phone service. For my
purposes, it's never far away.
>
>Examine Steven's usage scenario, though, and watch it fall apart before your
>eyes. He starts with hotel WiFi in the morning, which for him is always good
>or excellent. His next mention is a mid-morning coffee shop, followed by
>lunch at McDonald's. Mid-afternoon brings another break at a coffee shop,
>followed by dinner at a restaurant that offers WiFi, then it's back to the
>hotel and the warm cozy WiFi that they provide. If that sounds ridiculous,
>it's because it is. If you want Internet access just a few times a day and
>are willing to travel to get it, and if you don't care how badly it
>performs, then fine, but that's not my world at all.
>
>For me, and for most people I know, it's not available if it doesn't exist
>where you are when you need it, and when you do find it, it still isn't
>available if you can't use it for any reason. That includes WiFi that
>doesn't have any appreciable throughput. 300 baud was acceptable at one
>time, but not anymore.
No thing is available if it doesn't exist where you are when you need
it. Like gasoline, or do you have a tanker follow you around so it
will be there when you need it. How about food? Good luck with having
that the instant you need it. Try west Texas, for example.
If you need access to high speed data all the time, regardless of
where you are, you're still not going to be happy because o one has
that kind of coverage. So just buy what gets you closest to what you
think you need, pay the big cost, and stop whining that wifi doesn't
do what you need.