Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft, Starbucks To Offer Wireless Service

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the number-one-get-me-another-frappucino dept.

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?)

12 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. My God !! "AUSTIN POWERS 2" got it right !!! by Salgak1 · · Score: 3

    . . . 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.

  2. Bad deal for Starbucks by SurfsUp · · Score: 3
    Nobody has these wireless devices, this is pure promotion for Microsoft. If it did work you'd have to bend over and let msn work you over. As usual, Microsoft's partner will get the dirty end of the stick and pay all the bills.

    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.
  3. Point Missed? by SecretAsianMan · · Score: 4

    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.

    --
    SecretAsianMan (54.5% Slashdot pure)

    --

    Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.

  4. Like a bad 50's Movie by Vanders · · Score: 5

    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
  5. Re:And now for some espionage... by Fjord · · Score: 3

    802.11b specifies WEP, but it does not have to be used. I would imagine that they will enable WEP however. Plus, the SS should help keeping things private.

    From the Buffalo AirStation FAQ:

    Question
    What about security, can my neighbor steal my information?

    Answer
    There are two levels of security in WLAN. First, the RF communication is protected by the special transmission method called Spread Spectrum, SS. The SS method is not the "tune in" method used in normal radio transmission, it is almost impossible to tune. Secondly, 802.11 wireless communications have a function called WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), a form of encryption which provides privacy comparable to that of a traditional wired network. If the wireless network has information that should be secure then WEP should be used, ensuring the data is protected at traditional wired network levels. Also it should be noted that traditional Virtual Private Networking (VPN) techniques are not supported in the current firmware. The firmware upgrade will be available in the 2nd quarter of 2001.

    --
    -no broken link
  6. The last mile... by rnturn · · Score: 4

    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
  7. Uh, really. by panda · · Score: 3

    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.
  8. Forget BN... by Mr+Neutron · · Score: 3
    What about United Airlines? Don't they serve Starbucks?

    "We have reached our cruising altitude of 29,000 feet...you may now frag."

    Neutron

    --
    I get my kicks above the .sigline, Sunshine.
  9. More from Mobilestar and CBS Marketwatch by ackthpt · · Score: 3
    I can't recall everything I had in the post of this rejected article (Microsoft and Starbucks to do Broadband) I made yesterday, but here's one from MobileStars's pressroom, which offers more (company view, of course) info than the Salon snip.

    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
  10. starbucks?? my local coffee-shop.. by radja · · Score: 3

    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
  11. More at NY Times by rde · · Score: 3

    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.

  12. GSOCD! by red_dragon · · Score: 3

    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?"