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AMD Papers Over Free Wi-Fi Network Builders
Glenn Fleishman writes "It's been widely reported in the last week that AMD, Intel's processor competitor, was launching a free hotspot network. It's come out, in reporting we just posted at Wi-Fi Networking News, that AMD has built this network by calling existing free hotspots and asking if they'd put stickers in their window. This might be fine: stickers and the label "AMD HotSpot" in exchange for promotion. However, in Austin several local wireless activists say that AMD has put their hotspot decals up in stores without the stores' permission, including at locations operated and supported by Austin Wireless City and Austin Unleashed. Guerrilla marketing gone overzealous? Or an attempt to seize the credit without paying for it?"
Swiping free advertising? Doesn't seem like something a major company would do, especially considering this must cost AMD peanuts ....
Or does someone have the stickers? If you don't see them go up, you have no idea who actually is responsible.
I call computer-illiteracy job security
This kind of reminds me of the Microsoft butterfly campaign in NYC. How much do you wanna bet this was the clueful idea of some champ in marketing? When will they learn?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
If you let just anyone in and put up decals, where does the blame lie?
"We'd like you to display our logo."
"Um, no."
"Ok, we'll just put them in that window over there."
"Um, ok."
Shift happens. Fire it up.
I get really tired of trying to find a hotspot on one of several hotspot maps only to find them all cluttered with Starbucks (TWELVE within one mile of my office) and McDonalds.
The only free hotspot I know of in the area is a coffee shop on Bush & Kearny, and I patronize the shop over others because of the free 802.11 access.
It's nice to have, and it does bring in the business.
If you want quality, reputable marketing, you don't ask people to do it for free. You need paid, trained professionals who respect the law and who know good advertising etiquette (such that it is).
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
Even if they are just dealing with locals to use their wifi setups, it's better then the non-existant Intel "wireless world of centrino."
As far as I can tell, all "centrino" is is a lower speed CPU notebook with a built in 802.11 board built in.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
don't get me wrong, I love my local free hotspots,
but I wonder if these whiny coffeeshops are paying for a 'business grade' internet connection licenced for bandwidth sharing...
You misunderstand completely. The only reason for that tagline is to advertise the anti-virus software. It would be retarded to filter your mail on such a silly criteria, and everyone knows it. It's an advertisement, just as much as the hotmail advertisement in my sig. No different.
Why would a virus BOTHER to forge the certification? Do you see many spammers forging hotmail advertisements at the bottom of their messages when they have hotmail return addresses (but are clearly spamming through an open relay on a cable modem)? There's no point. No one cares. No one notices. No one even reads it.
Random and weird software I've written.
Or perhaps they were doing what I have
done in the past:
Advertise in places where it isn't allowed,
then blame my "street team", who isn't
a part of any organization and can't be
penalized for it, then promise to
tell them not to next time.
Three words: PEACE, LOVE, and LINUX.
Ok, that's four words. :-)
I think an AMD rep walked into a store, and asked the guy at the counter if he could put a sticker up. The guy said yes. But the guy was just an employee, and the owner knew nothing about it.
Later, the owner found the sticker, got mad, and complained without first asking his employees if they'd permitted the decal's application. Or, alternatively, the employee responsible decided not to fess up in order to better his chances at continued employment.
In any case, I can't imagine an AMD guy walking into a store, slapping a sticker in the window, and leaving without clearing it first. A Microsoft guy would, certainly, but not an AMD guy.
You can run but you can't hide, except, apparently, along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
The key in breaking the rules is not being caught...
It doesn't even matter if you get caught, if the penalty is low enough. And "low enough" can be quite high, with a marketing budget to back it up. It's just the cost of doing business.
It reminds me of when California raised its fine for littering when they noticed that it was almost as cheap to pay the fine as to pay a city dump fee, and that was before applying the expected value of actually getting caught. In practice, it was much cheaper to litter, and more convenient even if you were caught every time.
Before I start, I don't mean to start some flamebait here. To me I just get the impression that AMD are desperately trying to play catch-up with Intel's Centrino campaign, and on the cheap. (Then again, despite an official list of 'certified' hotspots on their website, Intel aren't promoting it much.) And, alas, doing it wrong.
Again, please tell me if I've read this wrong.
Jonathan Ah Kit - Lower Hutt, New Zealand - jonathan@metalab.unc.edu