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Microsoft, Starbucks To Offer Wireless Service
rfsayre writes: "Ever embed video in a Word 2000 file while drinking a venti half-caf low fat frappucino? You will." Think about this: if Microsoft and Starbucks provide their "customers with high-speed Internet access for their wireless laptops, smart phones and other hand-held device," how long would it be until no one is more than 30 feet from an access point? (And does this include Starbucks-serving Barnes and Noble Cafes?)
slashdot says that you will, so you might as well get over it. If you don't go voluntarily, agents of VALinux will come to your house and take you at gunpoint to the nearest Starbucks (check under your welcome mat, there's probably one there) and force you to do these things.
Do you really go into a coffee shop to use your laptop? I understand it on an airport, but hey when I go into a coffee shop I want to talk to real people.
It'd be interesting considering I work there. "Yeah, your book's over there somewhere. Go look, I'm trying to figure out why our stock's plummeting." Man, I'd hate to work in the computer books department--I'd spent most of my time working tech support, and computer stuff happens to be on the same floor as the café.
The big question is: how will this be done? Is it going to be a standard 802.11b wireless access point in Starbucks with an uplink to the net or the standard with a little Microsoft incompatiblity sauce applied. Personally I'm interested. It would be nice to be able to grab my e-mail while I'm getting a morning cup of joe. Ecks
Starting with MacOS 9 (and it's in MacOS X too) Apple deployed encryption and more to the point the Password Keychain, an encrypted repository of username/passwords/various info that ypu can unlock and let apps on your Mac access to automatically login you in sites/services. (The Keychain actually existed in a previous incarnation in Apple's PowerTalk in the early 90s.)
I think it would be nice if there was such scheme but platform-independant... so I could synchronize my Mac keychain with my palm pilot, and the Linux box at the cyber cafe could use the keychain from my palm, etc.
And to solve the forgetting to logout problem, maybe a custom timeout could be set depending on the place/service used?
Use CryptoPad!
By george, where as that program been all my life? My humble thanks. (I found it here, BTW).
Small. . . portable. .
Ahem... Yes, I suppose. Sort of the way that a VAX looks small and portable when you park it next to ENIAC.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
>You got all of that from the fact Starbucks is >providing a nifty service to its customers? It does so by taking out it's competition. Over here in S.F. there are at least a couple starbucks on every block. Is this really necessary? They took out all the Mom and Pop coffee shops.
9600bps vs. whatever pipe Czarbucks is using. Which will hopefully be much bigger.
Don't get me wrong, I use my cellphone's 14.4Kbps connection all the time to check specific text data, but it isn't really well tuned for a "full Web browsing experience" (Help me, I'm starting to think in MarketSpeak!)
That's exactly what is needed. Y'wanna cater to the masses, you implement the common denominator. 10/100 switched Ethernet, TCP/IP, and DHCP. Plug it in and go. That's how hotels do it, and that's how offices with "guest desks" for visiting execs do it.
This is part of the concept that Sun called 'WebTone' -- a set of commonly-available Internet standards that are as readily accessible as your typical POTS dial tone. (Microsoft countered with a 'WinTone' concept which quickly got laughed off by the industry.)
I'll gladly plug my laptop into an Ethernet jack at the coffee shop. I'll gladly pay a few bucks extra to hang out on the 'net while I drink my coffee. But I won't hook up to some bizarre wireless network, especially one controlled by the Devil of Redmond.
--
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
Starbucks lattes are ass-nasty. Thank goodness there is no Starbucks in my town. I don't want one even near me.
They're coming to get you.
Soon, they'll be in the next town.
Then, they'll be in the shopping mall near your friend's house.
And before you know it, you'll be next door and downwind of one.
Get used to the burning plastic and hair smell, a Starbucks is coming to your area!
LIBERTYBOARD.ORG - News for Libertarians. Stuff that's about freedom.Cool site! Loved the link to the politics test.
If I hadn't already given up on Canada (you know, like your wonderful but tired old car, there's a time when it's just too broken to even bother trying to fix), I had been considering running as the Libertarian candidate for the Beaches-East York riding in the recent Canadian federal election.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
Starbucks are abhorrent.
People using laptops in a public place are abhorrent.
People using their laptops in Starbucks are doubleplus abhorrent...
But it's worse. Much, much, worse. According to this article at The Register, people want to computerise pubs...
Personally, the sight of a computer in a pub makes me want to spill my beer over it. Or preferably the trendy piss-water drink of the pretentious twat showing off his new laptop.
The horror, the horror....
Hacker: A criminal who breaks into computer systems
"Information wants to be paid"
I went to Starbucks the other day to order what I needed to cure a hangover. A large cup of strong black coffee. The cashier wouldn't serve me until she had verified that it was a "venti" coffee that I needed.
So let's say that I would go to Starbucks, order a "venti" coffee and check my mail? Sounds like a VIP-sales-guy syndrom to me. Hell, I don't carry my laptop with me other than to work and home. Why would I take it to Starbucks just so I can check what's new on Slashdot? Personally I don't live to get a first post.
Then, this wireless stuff is making me wonder. A colleague of mine just had a microwave station "rigged" on top of his computer at work. I can't imagine that it is very fun to sit by that thing and get, whatever is left of, your brain fried. Not dangerous? Perhaps not just one device, but think about all the cell phones, wireless ethernet, radio, TV and other technologies stream through your body each day... I am all for RJ45 as far as it can go. Airlines should pick up on this too. Put an RJ45 jack in the back of the seat in front.
We don't really need to be "connected" that much anyway. Think about your average day. How much is actually work being done because you have that Internet in your face? Most of it is probably reading e-mail with 50MB attachments and Slashdot.
When Starbucks pushes it into it's employees to understand non-jargon about coffee cup sizes, I will raise an eyebrow. As far as this wireless stuff goes, I could give a shit.
Have a good one!
Alex
Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. -Ayn Rand
Yes, I do work for a company that makes access points. No, I haven't done much work on that product line myself.
_____________
I don't want free as in beer. I just want free beer.
. . . now we have PROOF that Starbucks is part of a Global Evil Empire. The only thing they missed, is that Gates isn't Bald, doesn't wear Grey Nehru jackets, and doesn't, to my knowledge, have a minature clone. . .yet.
Whave people *do* have is laptops/notebooks. Now, if Starbucks offered a 100 MHz local net with RJ45 connectors along the counter...
--
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
All the keyboards will have to be encased in those heavy plastic wraps so they don't have to replace a keyboard everytime someone jumps up and yells "gotcha ya bastard!" and spills their coffee.
Either that or they'll have signs "No eating or drinking at computers" Which would defeat the purpose.
Confusious say "Man who walks through airport turnstile sideways going to bangkok"
I would never buy a B&N book again. I'd browse to find what I wanted, then go get a mocha and order everything on Fatbrain...
Question: If you order coffee from Starbucks.com while in a starbucks, do you get a terrible Net feedback loop?
Vulgrin the MAD
I sig, therefore I am.
It doesn't matter. This type of thing is geared toward the pretentious idiots who still flash their cell-phones and beepers in public to look cool. Let the dweebs have their fuzzy little drinks and net access in Starbucks with that crappy coffee-house rock droning in the background. It'll keep them from congregating in places where more reasonable technophiles congregate.
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seumas.com
So I'll have to travel to a Starbucks location to use wireless Internet? Doesn't that kinda miss the point? What advantages, except for easier table-to-table movement, would this provide over just putting ethernet plugs everywhere? I don't think I'll buy into the whole wireless thing until there's more blinkenlights and less vapor.
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SecretAsianMan (54.5% Slashdot pure)
Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.
Is there a pronunciation guide for all this bizarre coffee jargon?
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
It's a lot of marketing stuff, but there's more information on the press release...
"Ever embed video in a Word 2000 file while drinking a venti half-caf low fat frappucino? You will."
I don't run Windows.
I don't use Word.
I don't drink coffee.
I especially don't drink "frappucino".
And even if I did, it wouldn't be at Starbucks.
So no, I won't be doing this.
--
MailOne
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
(Hey Ryan! Here's your proof!)
Here's my idea.
Anyone living close enough, could tap the signal without actually being inside of a starbucks, then reroute it to the rest of the neighborhood via some cat5 cable thrown over the fence. Hell id do it.
--toq
Starbucks & Microsoft team up together, and produce a bastard evil offspring intent on taking over the entire world with bad coffee & bad software.
What next, AOL Time Warner merge with Microsoft Starbucks, and do battle against Pepsi Exon Coca Cola, while us little people cower in fear and dodge peices of sky scraper that are falling from the skys as the evil corporations Mega-Money-Rights-Stomping-Robots do battle in the cities (Especially Tokyo; robots always do battle in the streets of Tokyo).
I feel a film coming on. Warner Fox Disney Corp. would love it....
Syllable : It's an Operating System
I usually have to find something to say to flame microsoft, but now they're partnering with a caffeine distributor! DAMMIT! I guess i have to give some shouts to ol' Bill Gates for actually partnering with a company that produces something that i really need!
I am !amused.
"...and 2% milk. So a low-fat frappucino is redundant - they are ONLY lowfat."
Not with 2% milk they're not. "Lowfat" would be at most 1% milk and more likely skim.
--
MailOne
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
(Hey Ryan! Here's your proof!)
Same great evils, same great taste.
Moving at the speed of government.
I very seriously doubt it... unless this blows up, and b&n jumps on the bandwagon. The starbucks in b&n stores are not real starbucks (along with most of the kiosks in airports, hotels, etc), they are just sold coffee by starbucks, none of the starbucks corp. stuff applies to them.
The last few years have seen the rise and rise of OSS, but with moves like this is Microsoft looking to quash the rebellion ? By owning not only the software but the network will they achieve the subjugation of free software.
Maybe ultimately this is why Microsoft will dominate, even if broken up. They own the computer (X-Box), the software... and now the network.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
They will hijack some nuclear war heads, and hold the world hostage for $1,000,000.
M$ stock dropped in 1/2 since last year. If you are a MCSE, you will be broke.
Microsoft and Starbucks joining up? Neither of which are very good, but have a good marketing campaign. What a perfect match!
"Customers will be able to download the latest information on local arts and entertainment and shop online"
Is that all they can do? What about ssh to your home Linux box and recompile the kernel.
The article also says: "The service will be provided over MobileStar Network Corp.'s wireless broadband network and connect people using Microsoft's MSN services."
We just got a Starbucks in our lil' downtown a few months ago. At night, it's the turf of the hip-n-trendy 90210 college students from south Florida. During the day, however, it is overrun w/ attorneys on their way to & fro the courthouse, judges doing the same, DEA faggots, etc...
Once these folks start slinking into Starbucks w/ their laptops & nursing steamy lattes while their insecure o/s does a NetBIOS broadcast over the 802.11 net--ooh, it's almost too much to bear.
Some nutcase could intercept all kinds of cool shit & really change the outcome of court cases, etc... Imagine if the DEA starts doing raids on the wrong houses (oops, they've already done that). The possibilites are endless.
I'd rather be a unix freak than a freaky eunuch
Ewige Blumenkraft!
hey, starbcuks expert, whats a...
quad/quattro breve latte
Another Starbucks product that is about as overmarketed and annoyingly named as a 1984 Cadillac Cimarron (read: 1984 Cavalier with heated leather seats), served in an annoying sleeved paper cup in a restaurant that stinks like plastic and hair burning, and comes with a wooden stir-stick that gives you a splinter when you lick it to save the last drop of precious caffeine.
Ugh. I hate Starbucks. Not that the coffee is bad, but from ordering with their really annoying names for everything (tall, venti, grande, etc.) to the stink of beans roasting in the store (and I can't figure out what they could possibly be doing to make coffee beans smell bad) to the really stupid hippy tree-hugger cups and stir-sticks, I avoid the place like the plague that it is.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
And you can't smoke in any of these places either.
No, they wouldn't want the familiar and relatively pleasant smell of tobacco to obscure their precious and Pavlovian this-place-smells-like-burning-hair marketing tool and trademark odor.
I'd still love to know how they make coffee beans roasting smell so incredibly bad.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
If ever having left someone's prescence, you feel as if you lost a quart of plasma, AVOID that prescence -W.H.Burroughs
But at least you can get your email...
I can just see this...
Attempt to log into a POP server from Starbucks access:
"We're sorry, you can only access POP mail from the MSN.COM and HOTMAIL.COM domains. Have a nice day."
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
The only thing they missed, is that Gates isn't Bald, doesn't wear Grey Nehru jackets, and doesn't, to my knowledge, have a minature clone. .
I guess the trapdoor/disposal system malfunction in the first movie was just an "undocumented feature" in the Windows NT drivers?
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
Many Starbucks already have 802.11 equipment connecting their super-cash-registers. All they need to implement this is a net connection. The question is, how does Microsoft get anything out of it? Will all of your web hits be intercepted and routed to MSN? Or do you have to install some ugly piece of Windows-only software in order to use the connection?
but he is just a persian cat and a monocle away from being a james bond villian.
How we know is more important than what we know.
"Microsoft today announced that it would be installing computers with internet access and a full licensed copy of Office 2000 on every tree in the forests and wilderness areas surrounding the greater Seattle area.
Microsoft spokesman Steve Ballmer said in an interview that "he knows that people want this, they just don't know it yet. If you can't check your email while on vacation in the woods, what good are you in this world anyways? I check my email when I am on the crapper, everyone else should too."
In an unrelated story, Microsoft claims that 'forest creatures are now responsible for the stolen Windows source code', and that they are in the process of acquiring a thermonuclear warhead to use on the cute and fuzzies of Washington state."
"See, we plan ahead! That way, we never have to do anything now."
Microbucks or Starsoft? :)
kc.
kc.
"You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel." - Homer J. Simpson
...what kind of person seriously goes to a coffee shop with a view to getting their laptop out and doing a bit of surfing? (actually, come to think of it, the same sort of person who would drink "frappucino"(?), and want to embed video in a Word doc.)
;-)
I personally prefer the relative comfort of my desk @ work or my home (in both of these places I can also drink coffee, and it doesn't cost $4 a cup).
The only coffee shop I want to spend time in is the kind they have in Amsterdam
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Moderator's essentials
Here's a link to the whole story from the NY times - no regsitering required...
Think outside the... Hey, where'd the friggin' box go?
Are you serious? Of course you will. Or they will try for that anyway....
Microsoft isn't doing this out of the goodness of their heart. They aren't doing it to promote cross-platform functionality. Look at their past. Most of their products have some sort of hook in them to try and get you to buy other products if you want full functionality. This will be just another method to reward you for running WindowsME on your laptop or having the right mobile phone.
"Ever embed a Trojan embedded in a video in a Word 2000 file while drinking a venti half-caf low fat frappucino? You will."
Ack! Just remember! Just don't accept any attachment files sent you by someone in a Starbucks!
========================== pipe(13) -- can you figure it out?
No registration required - here.
Think outside the... Hey, where'd the friggin' box go?
Anonymous client misbehavior via CyberCafe, or (name your favorite public access flavor).
How is the chain of accountability maintained in these arrangements where the public can temporarily connect to the net using their own systems? At home, I have a permanent relationship to my ISP, so my misbehavior is easily punished by terminating my service! I just can't imagine how this Starbucks service provider can control "foreign" clients - they just stroll in from the street and connect!
Maybe this could prove to be a useful form of civil protest in the future - especially if this break in accountability is never addressed.
oh....my!
that you will have to have a MSN account to use this. Don't expect the marketing droids to ever give up.
Then there's the security aspect. "Microsoft has installed monitoring software, with man-in-the-middle cacheing for SSL, for your Web surfing and e-mail convienence."
Skroom. By Seattle standards, at least, Starbuck's is bottom shelf coffee anyway.
--
Welcome to the Turing Tarpit, where everything is possible but nothing interesting is easy.
Microsoft AND starbucks, oh my! Hanging out at starbux using the net is where geek ends and yuppiedom takes over. Via Geek- creative, alternative, inginuity and fun! Evil Greedy trendy ass yuppies suck (methinks). Is /. losing it's geek roots?
So quick with fear you tiny fools!
As usual, Microsoft's partner will get the dirty end of the stick and pay all the bills.
Actually, the customer pays the bills. They are using MobileStar which already has access points in Airports. If this is the people I'm thinking of then expect to pay more for the access than for the java. I think they charge $5/10 minutes (but it could be $10/5 minutes).
What people *do* have is laptops/notebooks. Now, if Starbucks offered a 100 MHz local net with RJ45 connectors along the counter...
I agree, if Starbuck is doing it to attract business, then I think they would be better off with plain vanilla ethernet jacks charging $5 an hour.
By the way, per the MobileStar website, it does use 802.11 standard. It's a weird website since even though they are targetted partly at mobile phone users, you need the latest Flash player just to get a list of locations served.
Work for Change & GET PAID!
Alot of these posts seem to imply that your going to be using Linux on you laptop while your on M$'s wireless network? What in the world makes you think that they're going to use some standard tech to do this? I'm sure they're going to invent some new proprietary system that is allready built into 2000 (but not availible on Win9x/ME/NT/Linux etc)... Just another way of M$ forcing people to upgrade. This is just another haven for the drones of MCSE's that M$ is pumping out like German U-Boats. Easy certifications putting stupid people in high end networks that they can only possibly use with a stupid little icons to function.
I have a Starbucks near my home that, if it had this service, would certainly have my patronage more often. Now if their coffee were just a bit better...
sulli
RTFJ.
Oh no, I won't...
t_t_b
--
I think not; therefore I ain't®
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
...but not exactly this. i was actually on the team that was doing the budget for the plan. they basically wanted broadband and free internet terminals with webcams. theyre plan was to have it set-up for web confrencing with other starbucks customers (mostly those long lost friends and family), and have a few cameras in each location that broadcast all of the stores to the internet.
obviously as you can imagine, this was going to cost a boatload of cash (5 terminals, each with webcam, 1 server to be a gateway /firewall /controller for the internet webcams, at every location). It was pure madness. The support bill was more than they had wanted to spend on the entire project.
With this plan however, a lot less hardware is needed. probably a much wiser way to go over all.
Drink more tea
organicgreenteas.com
flesh eating ants records
If only they would offer this at caribou. I much prefer their coffee.
Kris
botboy60@hotmail.com
Nerdnetwork.net
Kris
botboy60@hotmail.com
Nerdnetwork.net
I've been trying for some time to get DSL into the home and have been getting the run-around: ``Yes, you're close enough'' ``No. You're too far away''. Seems to depend on the phase of the moon. Either that or my neighborhood just happens to sit on a hitherto undiscovered and unusually active tectonic plate.
Now Starbuck comes along and offers wireless internet access. I'm pretty darned sure that there's a Starbucks closer than my local phone company's CO. (Heck, in Chicago, you can stand on most street corners in the Loop and see at least three Starbucks shops.) Could Starbucks be the high speed provider I've been looking for?
--
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
Actually, I heard that:
d -defeat-your-headache-while-eating-your-power-lunc h-and-taking-advantage-of-the-latest-rate-cut-on-t he-market, they've made a strategic partnership with the FBI to have you shot. At half price, of course.
Starbucks will provide high speed access, Microsoft will provide the software,
Dell will provide the computer,
The Gap will provide the clothes,
Bayers will provide the drugs (trust us, you'll need em),
McDonalds will provide the food,
Etrade will provide the stock trading services you will need to afford all this,
and if you ever go anywhere else to drink-coffee-while-you-browse-and-look-stylish-an
If something has never been said/seen/heard before, best stop to think about why that is.
"Old man yells at systemd"
At the moment I can just point my Psion or laptop at my mobile phone anywhere that has a modern GSM network (Which means pretty much everywhere but America) and connect to the Internet to pick up mail/news etc.
Deleted
If you don't like it then don't buy it. It's just that simple...I wouldn't use nothing like that any ways. =)
P.S: Don't let the name fool you... I'm a Linux user.
From Zero to Hero... Starbuck Zero
from the times article:
The arrangement will enable customers, for a fee, to connect to the Internet from a laptop computer or other device equipped to handle wireless data. In addition, Microsoft will create content and services through MSN, its online service, catering to Starbucks customers.
"It's because they're stupid. That's why everybody does everything."- Homer Jay Simpson
Frankly, I'm all for other firms doing this type of thing, but I haven't seen anything from Sun or Netscape, or other "/. friendly firms" come up with something this neat before.
If you're worried that because it's MS-tech, we won't see it working with your Linux laptop, then clearly, you've lost a little faith in your Linux compatriots. I've seen some of the wackiest stuff from you Linux folks. And I'm certain that we'll see a Linux hack of this sooner than later.
I spend a lot of time in coffee shops -- having an Internet connection there would be a dream.
Be happy. If this works, it will be very cool, and other firms will be more willing to do this kind of thing. If it doesn't, then MS loses some money.
--
At Singapore Airport they're building this kind of thing up too. They've had little access points all over the place for Palms a long time (which is neat if you have software installed that can make use of it - like a ssh client (mmmhm)).
Now they're setting up a place with several round desks with flat screens, mouse and keyboard, infra red ports for Palms, notebooks, etc., wires to plug your notebook into the screen/mouse/keyboard and all hooked up to high speed internet access. I believe you can use those terminals without your own PC too, but I may be wrong there.
In any case, it's all quite neat if you have some time there (I just returned from 45 hours of flying/sitting in airports).
Starbucks.
Coffee.
WireLESS.
krystal_blade
It will be easy to motivate our fellow man; there is hardly anything people treasure more than not being annihilated.
-- ShadyG
Nerd Rock In Progress
Come on, do we need this? Let's just solder motherboards and cellphones into our brains and get it over with already...
"Yeah, I'll have a half-caf, no-fat, double latte, mocha swirl with the Firewire upgrade." Sheesh!
Just be sure to wear the gold uniform when you beam down -- you know what happens when you wear the red one.
Wonderful.. The coffee's expensive BUT the line is long AND your BSOD is just a sip away. I hope they let people order with help from the office paperclip.
Airbus have onboard Solaris systems running AFS and X, etc. The are not critical for flight. They are used for repair manuals (and other documentation?).
"We have reached our cruising altitude of 29,000 feet...you may now frag."
Neutron
I get my kicks above the
Seen what Kinkos and the like charge for web usage? I think if I nedded this Id go for a Metricom modem ($100 for the modem, $100 or so a month for unlimited wiresl 128K-top-speed internet acess.). Its sure to be cheaper in the long run.
I'm just picturing the joys of wireless coming up through my floor and the extra bandwidth available after they close for the night.
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. - G.B. Shaw
I used to work in a Barnes & Noble cafe, and I doubt that this would effect them.
:P
It's technically a 'B&N Cafe' not a Starbuck's one. They just get their coffee from them, and even then they do not have the full range of coffee's and various products that you would find in a Starbuck's cafe.
If I had a laptop computer and/or a wireless PC'esque device, this may have given me reason to venture into a Starbuck's every once in a while. But I don't see my poor self buying new gear like that anytime soon.
ChuckX
www.chuckx.com
If I find one of those in Canada I'll plant a relay in the outside wall and flood their dangin' network with images of 3rd world starbucks child work force expliotation.
Damn the man. Damn her to hell!
'course it just sounds a bit stupid and generally seems to emphasise speed of production over flavour and style.
Come to think of it that's why it is only an accepted variant in the (dictionary.com source) "The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition"
Ah, the speedy crappy stench of 'American Heritage' Expresso.
James
// It had been Fat's delusion for years that he could help people. --Philip K. Dick, Valis
The NY Times article implied that this service was going to be provided by 802.11. (See! I read before I post!) However, is this the actual fact, or will it be some proprietary hybrid? Does anyone know more about this?
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$tar -xvf
My question was, and still is, will access be limited to MSN only? (Thursdays CBS Marketwatch article) Note: Customers will be able to access Microsoft's MSN...
Personally, I think Austin Powers 2 was more factual than we were lead to believe. Obviously this is Dr. Evil and Mr. Bill getting ready for world domination. What next, wireless broadband in the mall, at McDonald's, on the jet? The possibilities are endless. I suggest dubbing this 'eKudzu'.
--
+++ Out Of Cheese Error +++
+++ MELON MELON MELON +++
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Two overpriced java lookalikes.
Maximum Number of Professors: *Refer to printed "EULA"*
END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR MICROSOFT/STARBUCKS COFFEE __________________________________________________ _____________________
IMPORTANT-READ CAREFULLY: This End-User License Agreement ("EULA") is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and the manufacturer ("Coffee Manufacturer" or "Manufacturer") of the Coffee or Caffeine system component ("WETWARE") with which you acquired the Microsoft liquid product(s) identified above ("LIQUID PRODUCT" or "JOE"). If the LIQUID PRODUCT is not accompanied by a new caffeine system (coffee pot)or caffeine system component,(coffee mug) you may not use or drink the LIQUID PRODUCT. The LIQUID PRODUCT includes caffeine wetware, the associated media it is served in, any printed materials used to soak up spills, and any "online" or electronic documentation of how such "JOE" is made. By drinking, brewing or otherwise using the WETWARE PRODUCT, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, Manufacturer and Starbucks/Microsoft Corporation ("Microbucks") are unwilling to license the WETWARE PRODUCT to you. In such event, you may not use or brew the WETWARE PRODUCT, and you should promptly contact Manufacturer for instructions on return of the product(s) for a refund, unless it is cold.
krystal_blade
It will be easy to motivate our fellow man; there is hardly anything people treasure more than not being annihilated.
I'm betting they'll install a coffee filter to make sure you can't surf to the sites of other coffee shops.
Nobody believes the official spokesman, but everybody trusts an unidentified source. -- Ron Nesen
Good lord!
You got all of that from the fact Starbucks is providing a nifty service to its customers?
Try decafe!
I live right across the street from a huge Starbucks and people use laptops in there all the time. I think it is a smart thing for them to do.
-Little Sister
"The future masters of technology must be light-hearted and intelligent. The machine easily masters the grim and the
Heh, most creative use of a starbucks sign i've seen: The "star" and part of the B has been painted over in the same green, and the "c" and "ee" of coffee, leaving "Fuck off"
But i digress. What an overly expensive with no real returns project.
-
Will I have to use Microsoft Windows on my laptop in order to use this?
Not very long indeed.
No, to the other question, as well.
Keeping
won't find me at starbucks. my local coffee-shop just ordered their new computers. What makes this better than starbucks? well.. it's a dutch coffee-shop..the main product is NOT coffee.
//rdj
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
--Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
If you could be arsed registering. The story's here.
Speaking as someone who admins in a Cyber Cafe, I can say that the idea is cool, as long as you can overlook the mega-corporations aspect. Many customers come in with their Palm Pilots replete with passwords; if they could use their own machines it'd be great. I know I get sick of de-securing the password list on my pilot, looking it username and passwd, logging on and then going back five minutes after I left because I forgot to log off again.
Fortunately I live in the good old Germany Microsoft is here not as powerful as in USA. MSN is a very small and hardly known provider. And we have no cofee companys cooperating with M$.
What a luck.
bugs within bugs...
Starbucks within Starbucks...
Today: Greenspan lowers rates to stimulate economy, impress ex-girlfriend...
This will open the door to a new Windows feature: the Green Screen of Caffeinated Death.
Hhmmm... I think I should start stocking up on Yaucono...
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
Now don't get me wrong. I'm running Win2K in a VMware box and I haven't gotten it to crash yet, which means it took Microsoft about five or so years to get Windows close to what Linux is now. They also merged alot of Win98's ease in, which is much better than WinNT 4. Securing a box is probably easier in Win2k (but I haven't tried it yet). Ideal? No, but probably stable enough that 90% of the masses are confortable with it.
Now if they have both wireless and IR connectivity, *THEN* they got 98% of the market covered (including the PalmOS devices).
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WolfSkunks for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.keenspace.com";
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
First Microsloth, now Charbucks.
I think I'll stick with Linux and roasting my own beans...
"I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." -- Warren Zevon
My fear is two-fold. First, what kind of people are going to be using this wireless. Is my laptop at starbucks open to attack? I'm not behind a firewall, unless I actually install one on my laptop, easy if I'm using linux, but for the occasional time when I'm not...
Also, what is going to happen when someone starts breaking into stuff using the Starbucks wireless? Is Starbucks going to be under a legal onslaught because they ran the network? Or because their "users" were attacking somewhere? I have this image of someone sitting in their car in the parking lot and hacking away for hours at a time using the Starbucks connection.
I also want to know which technology they are going to be using? 802.11b? Is it going to be open to anyone, or are they going to charge for usage? I can't imagine the coffee people behind the counter being able to help with configuring laptops for use on the wireless network. How are they going to handle pesky users who can't get connected and get all upset. They're already high on quad shot vente capachino. This will be an interesting story to watch.
OM
Lovely. Something to give Starbucks even more money. And I'll bet that this little deal won't help those of us who like coffee-flavored coffee any.
You know.
Coffee that tastes like coffee.
And you can't smoke in any of these places either.
::sigh::
But at least you can get your email...
In any case, dictionaries are mere repositories of demi-traditional, but mutable, language forms. They should not be viewed as sources of authoritative validation of the orthodoxy of any given particle. Although to be honest, I'm not terribly concerned with whether people use language "properly". I occasionally do so because it pleases me, but as long as I can understand what others are saying I don't get terribly distressed with verbal fudging.
Herbal fudging , on the other hand, gets me very excited.
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Hollywood, Television, has become the dream machine. We need to take that back; each of us is a Dream Machine
it took Microsoft about five or so years to get Windows close to what Linux is now
If my information is correct one could say it took MS 9-11 years to get to this level. Technically NT 4.0 was not supposed to have been a product when the NT timeline came up, it was a "we need this is in the market NOW so take what we have and try to stablize it." NT 3.51 was supposed to be the only steping stone, then the leap to what is now NT 5.0, err Windows 2000. But even so, the NT product started development sometime between 1989-91. Also, technically Windows 3.11 was supposed to end the DOS line, then 95, then 98, now Me.
Disclamer - Opinion of Person
Now that Microsoft are getting into the coffee business perhaps we need to re-evaluate the purpose of the GPL. Free Speech, now Free Coffee. I suppose Free Beer *will* be next. Make mine a Hurdweiser.
Yours Sincerely, Michael.
... in Florida, I was not surprised to see that most of the plazas (plazae?) now have micro-StarBucks in them. (That's the small ones, not the forthcoming offspring.) My parents, whom I was travelling with, laughed at the prices. "People actually pay that much for coffee?!? hahahahah!" (I've gone from paying 0.485 cents per cup to about 0.68 cents per cup - and it's damn good! (except for when the roast is overdone, but you can usually tell if you were there the night before.)) And, though some wouldn't like it, I can smoke in my favorite coffee shop. So, I don't yet have a wireless connection for my laptop - though people seem to think I'm connected through my AC line - but I can almost always find an outlet, or something more interesting than the net; like people! oh, wait, nevermind that ... The only place that compares is Waffle House - and mostly b/c of the price (~$1.00 for infinite refills?) and hours (26^H4). Now, maybe there's an idea ... internet connections in the booths at Waffle House? (Out of spite, they could charge only customers using a certain non-free (non-) operating system.) Hmm, maybe I could talk the owner of the coffee shop into a similar setup? Perhaps as a preemptive move? (Just make everyone bring an ethernet card or rent them *hehe*) (WedontneednostinkinIRdevices!)
To end this rant:
MicroSoft + StarBucks
= Little Quality + Astronomical Prices
!= Astronomical Quality + Little Prices
(now maybe someone will make that into a haiku)
Luckily for me ... I live in Seattle, and my Linksys card is on the way.
My world would be complete!
Mmmm.. Donuts
They've already been doing this in Canada for about a year in the Chapters chain of bookstores. I'm not sure if there's an official team-up with Microsoft, but they're running the evil empire OS.
It might not be in every store either but in both the Vancouver and Montreal downtown stores they 10 or so workstations set in nice wooden cabinets, and appointed with a video camera and a telephone handset. You set up your account/buy time at a separate terminal which spits out a magenetic strip card that you use to pay at each station.
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<sigh>
a 1 gig operating system...
a 100 meg word processor...
ain't progress greeat...?
I've been thinking about it, and I can't figure out which terrifies me more: Satan or The entitiy which will be spawned from the Microshaft and Starbux collaberation. I mean, sure, both will be evil, but one will do it in such an insidious way that no one will notice. Moreover, Microshaft will start pushing SB. Soon, you'll see a clause in the EULA stating that the only brewed beverage allowed to be drunk by MS users are the SB line of drinks. Likewise, SB will start making their customers sign EULA's for their coffee! Anarchy will reign! And Satan will be sitting in front of Win666 crying into his Starbux half-caf lo-fat latee with cinamon shavings, unable to do because MS has the monopoly on evil. It shall become.