Wi-Fi, Wy-Fi, Why Fi? The economics of free wireless internet service.
WiFi internet service is the staple of most modern coffeeshops. Almost as much as the quality of soy double latte a barista can pull, the ability to provide a caffeine junkie's laptop with it's own invisible IV of information seems to define each individual coffee house today, at least near the campus that I spend my days on. In this regard, I can't stand Starbucks. Yes, they may be the company that brought France to Seattle, and Seattle to the rest of the U.S., and (along with MacDonalds), the U.S. to the rest of the world, but even so, Starbucks is not a place I go to sit and sip on my coffee; thanks to their insistence on charging à la carte for WiFi service, I've become one of those people I despise, the ones who actually prefer to find a Starbucks with a drive-through window. At any other coffee house -- Caffe Luce, Paraiso, or Bentley's in Tucson* -- I love to sit, not necessarily with my laptop out, but I like to have the option of doing some work, some studying, or just some mindless surfing while I enjoy my coffee
Anyhow, this post wasn't meant to be a rant about Starbucks; rather, its about pricing models that work for wireless access in different situations. I started thinking about this a few weeks ago; I'd gone to dinner with a friend at a fairly new pub opened by some friends of hers, and while there, got to catch up with yet another friend I hadn't spoken to in a while, an IT guy who's worked with a couple of the ISPs in Tucson. He mentioned that his company had installed wireless in the pub just recently, and that they offered two hours of free service to anyone, with an option to purchase access for a longer period. That struck me as an excellent way to balance convenience for customers with an ability to pay for the costs of offering bandwidth, and I filed it away in the back of my mind, until yesterday.
Last night we stayed at a Days Inn, in Albuquerque, and since they didn't trumpet it like most of the higher end hotels I've been to, I assumed that they wouldn't have any sort of WiFi service. I was pleasantly surprised to see two different "DaysInn" networks on my laptop, and even more surprised that they were completely free to use; unlike coffeeshops, hotels like to aggressively monetize their internet offerings. Again, at the hotel where I'm typing this, my internet service doesn't cost anything extra (they advertised "Wy-Fi" service, which made me a little nervous); I had to call down to the front desk to get a login for it, but I was assured that it was free, and sure enough, the login was a shared login for all visitors.
I started thinking about the hotels I've been in over the last couple of years that wanted anywhere from $5 to $15 for in-room internet access; most of them cater to business travelers, who like me consider the internet to be indispensable, and unlike me, probably rarely care or even notice if they have to pay a little extra. As an amusing (to me, and probably only to me) side note, when I interviewed with Google earlier this year, they put me up in a very nice hotel in downtown Seattle. My travel instructions specifically stated, however, that Google -- Google, mind you! -- would not reimburse me for any internet service charges I incurred. You want a nicer rental car? No problem! An extra day to sightsee in Seattle? Sure thing. But access to the internet? Who needs it? Nikesh, Bianca, if either of you is reading this, let Sergey, Larry and Eric know that y'all should probably rework that minor point in the recruiting process. Okay, non-amusing side story over.
Anyhow, I'm not sure that there's much of a point to this story. I'm sure that at least a few of the companies I've patronized have done some market research and determined that either giving bandwidth away for free to customers, or alternatively, charging them for it, is the best way to make money in their particular circumstances. Some of the other probably have taken the advice of their service providers, and still other probably ran down to Best Buy and picked up a wireless router, and told their tech guy to "just make it work, so we can put up a 'We have Wy-Fi' sign."
To those who offer their service for free (at least for the first hour or so, or to already paying customers) I say thank you. To Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, The Doubletree, and all the other companies out there who don't offer any kind of free service, well, y'all make a lot of money off of me every year already; you could make a lot more if you would just stop trying to ring five more bucks out of my every visit.
*Currently, in that order. Bring back the salmon quiche, Paraiso, and you'll move straight back to the top. Oh, and keep working on that liquor license; I want Irish coffee!
Anyhow, this post wasn't meant to be a rant about Starbucks; rather, its about pricing models that work for wireless access in different situations. I started thinking about this a few weeks ago; I'd gone to dinner with a friend at a fairly new pub opened by some friends of hers, and while there, got to catch up with yet another friend I hadn't spoken to in a while, an IT guy who's worked with a couple of the ISPs in Tucson. He mentioned that his company had installed wireless in the pub just recently, and that they offered two hours of free service to anyone, with an option to purchase access for a longer period. That struck me as an excellent way to balance convenience for customers with an ability to pay for the costs of offering bandwidth, and I filed it away in the back of my mind, until yesterday.
Last night we stayed at a Days Inn, in Albuquerque, and since they didn't trumpet it like most of the higher end hotels I've been to, I assumed that they wouldn't have any sort of WiFi service. I was pleasantly surprised to see two different "DaysInn" networks on my laptop, and even more surprised that they were completely free to use; unlike coffeeshops, hotels like to aggressively monetize their internet offerings. Again, at the hotel where I'm typing this, my internet service doesn't cost anything extra (they advertised "Wy-Fi" service, which made me a little nervous); I had to call down to the front desk to get a login for it, but I was assured that it was free, and sure enough, the login was a shared login for all visitors.
I started thinking about the hotels I've been in over the last couple of years that wanted anywhere from $5 to $15 for in-room internet access; most of them cater to business travelers, who like me consider the internet to be indispensable, and unlike me, probably rarely care or even notice if they have to pay a little extra. As an amusing (to me, and probably only to me) side note, when I interviewed with Google earlier this year, they put me up in a very nice hotel in downtown Seattle. My travel instructions specifically stated, however, that Google -- Google, mind you! -- would not reimburse me for any internet service charges I incurred. You want a nicer rental car? No problem! An extra day to sightsee in Seattle? Sure thing. But access to the internet? Who needs it? Nikesh, Bianca, if either of you is reading this, let Sergey, Larry and Eric know that y'all should probably rework that minor point in the recruiting process. Okay, non-amusing side story over.
Anyhow, I'm not sure that there's much of a point to this story. I'm sure that at least a few of the companies I've patronized have done some market research and determined that either giving bandwidth away for free to customers, or alternatively, charging them for it, is the best way to make money in their particular circumstances. Some of the other probably have taken the advice of their service providers, and still other probably ran down to Best Buy and picked up a wireless router, and told their tech guy to "just make it work, so we can put up a 'We have Wy-Fi' sign."
To those who offer their service for free (at least for the first hour or so, or to already paying customers) I say thank you. To Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, The Doubletree, and all the other companies out there who don't offer any kind of free service, well, y'all make a lot of money off of me every year already; you could make a lot more if you would just stop trying to ring five more bucks out of my every visit.
*Currently, in that order. Bring back the salmon quiche, Paraiso, and you'll move straight back to the top. Oh, and keep working on that liquor license; I want Irish coffee!
posted by Me at
10:14 PM
1 Comments:
We've noticed the same. Stingy Starbucks. Frankly, I'm not convinced these places do market research. A router, for Pete's sake. The Day's Inn where we stayed in Lubbock was not only the least expensive place anywhere near campus, it had free wireless. Hope you're having a great trip!!
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home