From a Starbucks Press Release: Starbucks said Monday it will give customers that use its Starbucks purchase card two hours of free wireless access per day. After that, it will cost $3.99 for a two-hour session. (Source) What does this mean? It means independent coffee houses will be competing for free wireless internet customers. I’m not sure anybody really cares though. I don’t, and I expect most of the valley’s coffee houses don’t either.
james Free? “… it will give customers that use its Starbucks purchase card two hours of free wireless access per day. After that, it will cost $3.99 for a two-hour session.” How is that free? Certainly not the same free as, say, Inza Coffee offers. I can’t just stroll into a Starbucks, order a coffee, and use the wi-fi; I’ll need their purchase card. Since I view Starbucks as a last resort, I don’t see that happening any time soon. Besides, why in the world would I want to help support an AT&T service? These are the same folks who help the government illegally spy on its citizens, and who want to play ‘Net cop and filter content. 0 Reply February 11, 2008
Chris Tingom Yeah, that’s what I thought. Could prove hugely useful when you travel and need internet. 0 Reply February 11, 2008
leslie you can stop by intatto coffee anytime and surf on us! thats right it’s free all day long. And while you are at it, please feel free to tast our freshly roasted coffee we roast in house every day in small batches. 0 Reply February 11, 2008
Josh Great! The Giant Corporation has awakened, wanting to shake the tip yard once again… Hahaha! Nothing is FREE in life! But going into INZA Coffee and getting good quality coffee, plus the chance to use their WiFi for FREE 100%, inspires me to keep supporting local and independent coffee houses! Round 99 – Independent Coffee Houses – WIN!! 0 Reply February 12, 2008
Ben Atkin I think it might actually make surfing the ‘net at Starbucks more convenient than it is at *some* independent coffee shops. At one coffee shop I frequent, they hand out a handwritten slip that has a WEP key on it. The letters are sometimes hard to read. It’s a bit of a hassle. I much prefer the wireless experience at places like Three Roots and Mill’s End where they have an open WAP. At Starbucks, you get on their network and when you try to load a page, it redirects you to a sign-up page where you have to type in your password. I think it might be set up so it will use cookies to remember your password for a couple of weeks. If that’s the case, users might be able to go from one Starbucks to another without having to enter in their password. Still not as good as coffee shops with a totally open WAP, but better than a WEP or WPA key, IMO. That said, to me Starbucks is crap. People go to Starbucks for a sugar rush. Or, they go there to have artificially sweet drinks, which incidentally, haven’t been shown to help people lose weight. When a sign at a coffee shop advertises sugar-free syrup, you know what they’re selling is crap. In a pinch, while traveling, I might go to Starbucks, order a fresh fruit plate (one thing they can’t screw up), and surf the net there. 0 Reply February 13, 2008
Chris Tingom Kevin, I don’t think so. But I could be wrong. They have been trying the T-Mobile deal for 6 years according to that article. 0 Reply February 15, 2008
