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An iPod-based Guide To SF Wireless Hotspots
Ryan MacCarthy writes "On the day Apple announces the 4G iPod, BayAreaFreeFi.com announces the wiPod , an iPod-based field guide for free wi-fi hotspots in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Now when you are on the road you can look up a free hotspot quickly and easily right from your iPod. No, the iPod isn't wi-fi enabled. wiPod uses the Notes functionality of the iPod OS to store the database in an easy to use format.
Enjoy!"
Now excuse me while I get working on southeastern Virginia.
In soviet russia, You ask not what country do for you, but what you do for country!
Oh wait...
It would make more sense just to read the text file on your laptop or whatever device you will be using to access these networks.
It's funny, because if anyone can afford to pay for wifi; it's iPod owners.
Can the iPod connect to Wifi spots? NO! So you'll have a device that can display this information in order to make use of it, why drag the iPod into it? This whole iPod craze is getting to the point of the people who install Linux on their toaster.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Why is this even notable? If you're going to be getting wifi access, you're going to have your laptop. If you have your laptop, why would you keep a list of hotspots on your iPod? You'd be better off searching with kismac.
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
Wow! A text file! Why am I just hearing about this now?!?!
I love my iPod, but if I'm wearing it, it's because I'm (a) working out, or (b) on a long, grueling airplane trip. However, I always carry my phone/palm device, so a palm-based version of this would be convenient if I don't want to pull my laptop out of the bag...
The CB App. What's your 20?
Did they really just release an inexpensive model, or is that just a typo about the 40GB unit....
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I think the iPod-madness is getting a bit dated now. Just not long ago we have iPod going almost wireless, with the help of a PocketPC, and now this?
While it is nice to think of something innovative uses on iPod, we must also look at the practicality of such efforts.
Is there a website to record things like that? If not I'm going to start one.
Applications like this suggest a steath transformation of the iPod into a more general purpose mobile information device. Who is to say that somewhere inside Apple is not a frankenPod combo of an iPod and Airport Express wifi chipset or an Spotlight-derived information navigator that uses a Click Wheel interface. Mix in a little i of Newton, and Apple might just produce something interesting
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
In even a relatively large area, are there even enough hot spots to fill up a couple sheets of paper? And with paper, you have the added high-tech benefit of graphics. Imagine, being able to represent the location of hot spots as dots on a map!
Ok, so they released a new product... wait the product is a text file.
Maybe next they'll announce gpsPod... which is a text file containing GPS coordinates of your address. Save the file to your iPod, when you lose it, the person who finds it can return it. And this is a FREE service!!!!
...why should I even care? I use my iPod to listen to music in the car and that's about it. This is just using technology, inappropriately, for its own sake. Get a bloody life!!!
Works in every city in the world, doesn't need an iPod, can me printed on a very small piece of paper for easy access:
1- Buy an old laptop
2- Buy a cheap GPS
3- Install Linux
4- Install kismet
5- Install GPSDrive
6- Drive around
I figure the old laptop and cheap GPS are less expensive than an iPod.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I find it so frustrating how a device can not just have a SINGLE purpose these days. Most notably I am upset at how many 'cameras' manufacturers are shoving down my throat: My Cell Phone has to be a camera, my video camera has to be a still camera too, as does my Sony Clie PDA.
Which brings me to my worry: The PDAing of the iPod. Just because something can do a task doesn't mean it is well suited for it or should do that thing. Witness that the iPod also has a calendar and contact list. Mind you, you cannot add or edit these things, but they are available for reading and syncing to your Mac's corresponding applications.
BUT WHY?
I guess the thought is that because your iPod is portable it should be able to carry around the data that might be nice to have when away from a device that should contain said data.
But doesn't it make sense to have a music player with a simple interface and a single purpose? No confusion in the marketplace. No R&D time spent adding features outside of the scope of the device. Why should my PDA have a camera and play MP3s and play full motion video? How is this part of a Personal Digital Assistant? It's like these "SUV" luxury 4x4 stationwagons. What the heck is this car-plane-boat anyway?
All this rant just to say that I think the SanFran WiFi hot spot list belongs on the laptop that could use it, or at most a WiFi PDA, but not the NON-WiFi, NON-PDA iPod. It is just dilution of the purpose of this great music player.
Now if Apple would pretty-please make a PDA again...
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
You do realize that wireless cards are only about 40 bucks, right? Not exactly lavish.
I'll be more impressed when they figure out how to make this play MP3s.
Can something be that elitist when almost a million of them are sold every 3 months?
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
It's elitist because I can't afford one.
Well, I got the 40G iPod, a couple G4 powerbooks and an iBook and I live in SF.
But this still doesn't interest me in the slightest, because I already know a few very cool SF internet cafes where gals go to chat up guys and vise versa... ohh and the wifi is $5.00 a day, but I'd rather have the nice scenery and ability to have some very personal offline porn than downloading it for free off one of these guys listed hotspots.
I know the minis had 4gb.. I was thinking one of the full sized ones.. which should cost less then a mini for the same sized HD. $250 is still too much to rationalize for something like that ( when I already have a MD player ) Hey after the dot-bust some us don't have as much disposal income as we once had..
..
But as others pointed out, the G was for 'generation' not Gigabytes
Oh well...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
KeS
OK, so the iPod doesn't have WiFi and I see a lot of people asking about the usefulness of this. Well:
The iPod takes less time to boot up. You could store these files on your laptop or Zaurus since that's what you'd be using anyway, but it takes longer to boot a laptop up.
Using kismac relies on being near the WiFi point. This is a database, so it tells you the where some spots are in the area. Without you having to drive around. You can drive straight there.
Accessible format. Is there a better format than plaintext? If you want, you can print these out, or store them on your laptop. All iPod's notes format is is basic HTML and directories. So you'd have a bunch of directories named after cities, and in those directories are text files with information on how to get to the area. Since these are just directories and HTML any device with a web browser should be able to read them.
They may as well make it available like this.
**snip** Kansas. *hmm err hmm* Done **snip**
Hey, we have 2 outside Kansas City, and a few on our side of the river in Kansas City, that are available right here in "good old Kansas". Entering that data could easily take several seconds.
this isn't news. this isn't even interesting. oooh, someone grouped textfiles for us to read! shit, they've been doing that for decades. c'mon man, maybe if they had some kinda text2speech app that ran on the ipod, then it would be news.
perl -e '$_="\007/4`\cp%2,".chr(127);s/./"\"\\c$&\""/gees
Reading Notes on iPod sucks due to smal size of allowed space (4K I believe)... you are forced to scroll back to root every minute or so... IMO, most interesting bit of this story is the "wi-" part - just wait until everything we used to see as an "i-something" will turn into wi: wiTunes, wiLife... wiFE... he-he
When it's the same million idiots heading down to Best Buy because they threw the old one out when the battery died... Yeah, that fits the definition of "elitist" that I commonly use.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
While not iPod friendly, I found this website when looking for hotspots in the Kansas City area: www.jiwire.com.
They claim to have nearly 47000 hotspots in 65 countries, 15000 in the US. I hope this helps some.
Here is a better solution which utilizes a crappy laptop.
You have to use your iPod to lookup a hotspot - and then get your wi-fi enabled Pocket PC or laptop or Palm to actually connect - and then find the hotspot is not even available on that location anymore.
Just use a cheap Kensington hotspot finder instead. Thne you're sure there's something there.
just like a signifigant demographic in sf.. geey
I'm sorry, I didn't know Slashdot was exclusively a "linux" site. I thought it was a tech-related site. You might want to mod your profile to just include Linux-related posts or maybe just to ignore Apple posts if they get on your nerves enough to make ya want to rant about the editors.
just a suggestion
You really can't imagine what true elitism is then, which makes sense. Hint: none of the elite in this country have been to Best Buy. They also don't buy iPods or any 'digital music' player for that matter. They shun shiny new techonology and live in the deep countryside in houses bigger than you can even imagine.
Judging from the replies so far to this article
it seems it piqued the ire of a facet of slashdot
that always posts some sort of "why would anyone
want to do/use/make/create something like that?!"
[well- why not?]
I wish there was a mod -5 Curmedgeon feature.
I have my own curmedgeon chunk too which said
"ooo! an ipod zealot text file. they'll feel so special. If i could only come up with something
for cat worshipers that ran on the ipod i'd be rich!"
I just moved to the san francisco from the midwest
and I've been noting a bunch of sociatal quirks that make this idea not so bad (at least for san francisco):
Public transport is big here but I have yet to see someone whip out a laptop on the public transport. playing with cel phone games, gameboy, walkman/ipod is ok, but palm pilot is quite rare. Go figure.
Riders seem to feel pretty secure and comfortable most of the time on the transport here(compared
to new york and chicago) and you can't swing a cat
around here without hitting someone wearing an ipod (also the theoretical cat would hit at least 3 dentist offices 2 optical places and 1 walgreens per revolution).
being able to look up free wi-fi on a device
i'm already carrying and using would be nice.
introducing ipod wi-fi starbucks junkies to a new
place with free wi-fi and a better atmosphere can
only be a good thing.
what the hell. i'll go repair my ipod sometime and load up the list and see how it goes.
i'll propbably print the list too.
and build a free wi-fi enabled roller coaster in
my apartment
because it would be fun.
Firefox &
Are you suggesting that Apple doesn't get disproportionately covered on Slashdot?
I've been watching the iPod applications list for an offline web browser. I think a generic app like that would be better than these one off apps like class schedule viewer and wifi hotspot directory.
IPod Apps
This link has some info that will help you install gentoo on your toaster.
another use for your iPod while riding around looking for wireless hotspots?
listening to music!
That is no more technology based then me attaching a 12v power supply across a pencil sharpened at both ends and watching the wood burn and the lead glow orange until it gets brittle and breaks. Do it with the iPod battery as the supply and suddenly it is news.. "iPod can be used after a terrorist strike as an emergency heat and light source when coupled with a pencil and some wire"
A story about a text file stored in a notepad style application is pretty lame IMHO.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
I think most of you are missing the point here. Many a computer user have an iPods, and how else were you planning on finding that free wifi spot spurt of the moment, on the go? Did you think you were going to look it up on your laptop? You can read those wiPod texts with a computer, too. Just take the freebie and say thank you.
But what if the iPod was WiFi enabled, and also featured iTunes music sharing capability. If there were enough hot spots in a city, and enough people had iPods, I can imagine it would be fun. There wouldn't be much of a need for crappy commercial radio if there were thousands of songs available on demand for free with the purchase of an iPod...
To all the haters...
Reasons wiPod is useful and rocks:
1) it is a quick and useful guide to free wi-fi hotspots. I've been on the road in several occasions where a client has called needing to discuss certain matters that require Internet access. I can now look quickly through my iPod list for nearby locations to stop during our meeting.
I used to be able to do this via the WAP enabled wifi hotspots, but now I can use the wiPod for instant access to bay area free wifi locations.
Using WAP requires me to connect my phone to the internet, and to the right site (even if bookmarked). But the iPod is instant!
The WAP wi-fi version is good too, but the iPod is just faster.
2) supporting local businesses is good for the community. Rather than support the big guys, Bay Area Free Wi Fi supports local cafes and businesses.
3) it's super fast. in a couple of seconds you can identify all free hotspots throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
The wiPod is a very useful resource for finding Bay Area hotspots, and if you don't think so, then just don't download it.
It's all offered for free!
Think about this:
A German supermarket-chain sells PDAs for about 400 complete with GPS Antenna and a Navigation Software for Europe.
A shareware lets you add custom Points of Interest to the maps.
So, you get a device, that can direct you via voice and moving map to a WiFi Hotspot, while you can listen to MP3s (and even OGG Vorbis *gasp*) from the Memory Card of the PDA *and* you can access the Hotspot with the same device if it's WiFi enabled.
Or you can mark a new WiFi Point of Interest yourself while you drive around and happen to come near a Hotspot.
So why would I use a textfile on a music device except because "it can be done"?
Agreed, since this PDA only supports SD Cards up to 512MB its not compareable to the 40GB Musical goodness of the iPod *sigh*...
Just because this is available, it does not mean you have to use it. This is an instance where some people may find a usefulness in checking their iPod to see if there is a wifi connection close to them. I don't understand why everyone is throwing a hissy fit because of something that you can download to your iPod. It isn't like Apple is now preinstalling this with every iPod. If you think it would be useful for you, download it, if you don't, then stop reading the thread, it seems easy enough for me.
As for why Slashdot feels the need to post it, they felt that some people would be interested in this. If you read every single post on Slashdot because every single one applies to you, well I have a feeling you are in the minority. I know that I read the things I am interested in, the title of this story was not confusing or misleading, so if you don't care, dont read it.