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Texas State Parks Offer Wi-Fi
digrieze writes "Here's a story raising a holiday ruckus. Texas has started providing free Wi-Fi service at state parks, causing friction with the 'get away from it all' crew. Looks like a nice place to vacation to me."
causing friction with the "get away from it all" crew
You don't go to a state park and stay within wifi range (I assume their RV/tent sites in the main campground) if you want to "get away from it all". If you want to get away from it all you go backpacking in remote areas of the park or the State. Amenities like showers, flush toilets, electric hookups, and swimming pools doesn't exactly put you in the "roughing it" category.
So far, the vast majority of users are conducting business, and have both the tools and the ability to pay the average daily service fee of $10 to $20, says Phillip Redman, a research vice president at Gartner. But there are also a growing number of free Wi-Fi hot spots, which make the cost of connectivity irrelevant. And with proliferating access and declining price, the user's physical location has become less important than ever before.
I see a lot of RVs in campgrounds with DirecTV. Why not Direcwav while you're at it? It's $100 setup and $50/month and all you need is a direct view of the southern sky (in TX I doubt that would be a problem - and no, I'm not even a customer of theirs). If you're a serious "snow bird" RV fan it would sound like the best way to go. Hell, you could undercut TX State Parks and offer wifi for $5 or less. I can't see the $15/day pricetag honestly... The article mentions that they realize that putting wifi into the wilderness would be difficult due to terrain/etc and would require numerous antennae throughout the park but they mention that TX state parks have great RV/tent campsites that will have coverage... So why the high cost?
I bring my hiptop with me when we go "camping" but I generally only check my email twice a day from it and make phone calls only when necessary. It is nice to have along but I'm more for enjoying my freedom when I'm "camping".
I just can't see businessmen making it a regular practice of saving money on their overnight stays by using a state park campground and firing up their $15/day wifi when they can probably pay $15/night more (with parking fees, camping fees, and wifi fee) at a hotel and get it free.
YMMV.
The service will be free in the five Texas parks for three months; then TengoInternet, the wireless provider, will charge about $15 a day.
Err... doesn't exactly sound all that "free" to me.
"Hence, in order to have good coverage, you need to put antennas all over the park."
Just to prevent the future fires that the spelling police will start.
Antennas is correct when talking electronics.
Antennae is correct when talking biology.
- Source
AlexTheBeast
--
Tech-Recipes - Leave Your Computer Knowledge for Future Generations
I hate to be a spelling Nazi, but I believe you misspelled "taxpayer-funded".
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
Why does this cause friction? Can't they simply NOT use the WiFi service?
Portland, North Dakota Puppies
The article doesn't mention it, but the parks are: Choke Canyon State Park (Calliham) near Three Rivers, Blanco State Park near Blanco, Balmorhea State Park near Toyahvale, Goose Island State Park near Rockport, and Ray Roberts Lake State Park (Isle du Bois) near Pilot Point. Reference: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/news/news/041220b.phtm l
what I want to know is when are they going to add AC outlets to all of the trees?
I work for the texas state park and let me tell you how not happy people really are about this new service. What the article did not report was that we recieved a petition from 500 "naturalists" saying how strongly they object to this.
Naturally, we did what any good goverment body would do when handed a petition, we threw it away.
Bottem line is that technology is good and that this is going to make our lives and everyone else who uses the park but is not crazy, lives easier.
Progress is a good thing!!
Be better in bed. Wikiafterdark!
As a Texas resident and an avid camper, I think this is great! There has been many time I have been camping and wondered what else there is to see and do in the local area. Sure one would argue that you could go to the lodge and collect a bunch of tourist pamphlets, or you could sit in your tent or at the picnic table and check the local weather and current fishing and river conditions or even post first on /.
[n8.r0n] http://petesweb.spymac.net/
But what about those who just want to get back to nature - and shudder at the thought of a woods where Thoreau could go online?
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not remembered to check my email."
--Thoreau (almost)
* Olaserov is in the process of thinking up a signature.
I don't understand why the "get away from it all" types would be so upset about this, it greatly enhanses the experience of a park. Think of how much more intereactive it makes the whole experience. You see a deer, you take a picture, upload it to your friends so they can check it out. You see some other form of wildlife...or plant and you pull up wikipedia to try and figure otu what it is.
I say bravo to texas!
Be better in bed. Wikiafterdark!
From the article:
And with proliferating access and declining price, the user's physical location has become less important than ever before.
I beg to differ on this point. Since we can change our location -- Wi-Fi allows us to unchain ourselves from our desks -- location can now be used to provide a richer computing experience, as in applications like Placelab, and Plazes.
Chalk another site up on the list to wardrive.
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
They'll be calling George up as soon as they hear this. After all, they probably were already "planning" to implement this themselves.
Online picnic basket ordering.
From the comfort of his cave, Yogi will never be hungry again!
liqbase
How am I supposed to google for information on how to set up the tent, use a fishing rod, etc.?
The thing is that Texas has gobs of money. There was a time when it used the money to fund all sorts of free and cheap cultural opportunities. The quality may not be up to standards set by the pompous elite, but then these opportunities were not for the elite, they were for the average joe.
But now we feel more divided, and less willing to give up resources to benifit everyone. The state parks significant amounts of money for entrace and camping. This WiFi service is a wonderful way for the family to experience the stars, the birds, the other animals, the lakes, the trees, in a contemporary relevent fashion. A kid is not neccesarily going to trudge through a book when he or she can search the web.
So, i hope that this does not just become another way to fill the Texas treasury and enrich more corrupt bussinessmen. We can afford to put WiFi in the parks and be an example to the nation. I mean oil is at $40 for gods sake.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I really enjoy going camping AND NOT being within range of everyone. I like to take that time when I"m "Unplugged" to relax and not have to worry about my servers going down or something like that. Well, I'm still worried but I don't have a viable way of checking...with wifi I would be checking every few minutes.
Luckily it's in Texas and I usually don't camp there so I'll just have to not think about it.
But on a positive note, at least kids will have something to do when their parents drag them away from "all the distractions at home."
I don't see what all the brouhaha is about. Provided they make the antennae subtle, or even better, only install them in the more "touristy" areas (as opposed to the "primitive camping" areas), I can't imagine how this could take away from the camping experience.
If you don't take your laptop, it doesn't affect your "be one with nature" goal...also, at least WiFi usage is a quiet activity (assuming it isn't used to blast streaming music). I imagine I'd be more irritated with loud, obnoxious, drunk campers than quiet, laptop-using ones.
Just once I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding 'You're making a scene.'
Speaking as someone not opposed to this, but definitely not enthusiastic, I would say people are probably against this because they perceive that people who will use this service will probably be the same kinds of inconsiderate folks who play loud obnoxious music in family tent-camping areas, race ATVs up and down hiking paths, and bring other intrusive and obnoxious technology-related habits to the campgrounds.
;>
It's not about controlling what other people do; it's about personal space. A lot of people who are real fans of being "always connected" are extremely insensitive about personal space, and regularly infringe on other people. They don't seem to need much personal space, and can't comprehend those who need more space.
Yeah, I can choose not to use the service, but I'd feel more comfortable about it if there were designated "no wi-fi" areas. Also, i leave my notebook and cell phone at home when I go camping. I prefer that my coworkers have the perception that I am completely inaccessible.
And yes, I get a -lot- of weird looks from my geek friends when I tell them I left my notebook at home for 2 weeks.
If you don't like wifi in the park, don't use it. Simple answer.
;-)
That said, I think if the folks who manage the parks want to put antennas in the campground areas, fine. Or where there's public amenities. That makes perfect sense - it's a potential revenue stream, it's cheap to provide, and a lot of "campers" (which here in the U.S. often mean RV owners who want all the comforts of home wherever they travel) may take advantage of it. Even after reading the article, I really doubt they are referring to putting antennas everywhere in the parks - just in the areas that are developed. I don't think folks who go off into the wilderness with their sleeping bags and a pup tent are the target for wifi in the park.
And I don't see why it's an issue. Most campgrounds that would have this sort of service are designed for the vehicular set. The "back-to-the-woods" folks already stay far away from them. I could see how wifi in the deep woods would detract from the park experience, but that's not what this appears to be.
Then again, my idea of camping is staying in a hotel that doesn't offer room service. As much as I like the outdoors, I see it as a rather poor choice for sleeping. And RV's aren't much better in my eyes. So maybe my perspective is a tad skewed
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
but how will all of the increased radio effect the wildlife?
do any animals (not joking) use frequencies in that range? will there be a significant increase in radiation, doing harm in a 'natural' setting?
The IRS is the one organization that you don't want to fuck with. Remember, these are the guys who took down Al Capone.
(and we travel to campground for about 90% of our three-season travel here in the NE)
;-)
is that in the well-equipped private CGs you have a post or a tree that feeds you water, main power, phone and cable TV. Granted the phone is hardly used anymore with cell service being what it is, but they need to accommodate the campers, and with many of them being pop-ups and smaller vans, the line is blurred between a tent and vehicle site.
The state CGs are somewhere in the middle, and the feds are a patch of land, a painted number on a stone or post and a fire ring. They often do not have even showers (Acadia for instance has none - there are several well known shower services on your way back to camp).
There are times when I want to be at Seawall, lock the car for the week, and go without the bare minimum. Ride, splash, walk, eat, sleep. Then there's times when we'll bring everything including the laptop, digital camera, iPod, hole up in a private CG with free hot showers, power at the site and now I can't wait to use the new peltier fridge and not have to toss a coin about the safety of the food after five days.
Network access is just like the other things - but now they can deploy them without running yet another wire that can break to each site. And the states and feds who had few or no wire services to sites can add this without digging trenches to each site.
And here here on the generator issue - this is far down on the scale of annoying things in a campground - its way below generators and way WAY below 2AM returns on Harleys. In many campgrounds the most annoying things tend to be alcohol-fueled, and I don't mean sterno stoves.
A lot of campers believe they can simply replace their house with thin nylon walls and carry on like they were still inside an opaque, soundproof dwelling. How wrong they are. I'd swap laptops for boom boxes any day.
People camp for many reasons. To 'get a way from it all' (you never really do) to be in a more beautiful place (Passaconaway looks a bit better than RT 93 Exit 8) to live more simply but with some smarts. Each camper dials in the amount of those things they need. Good. We already bring a little / lot of our world with us when we camp - the technology in the stoves and GPS and NOAA and EPIRBs and watches we need isn't deemed terrible - they help. If my laptop doesn't disturb anyone else, and it helps me stay in touch and know about weather and going-on, great. There's a big difference between listening to the 90-min frequency NOAA voicecasts and seeing 15-min old color doppler radar. You'd be a fool to go to sea without weatherfax and several kinds of radio capabilities - ditto land nowadays.
Just don't pee on the wired tree.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
honestly I think it ruins the point as far as state parks are concerned (connecting with nature and blah blah), but being from Houston I think it would ROCK for Houston's CITY parks. There have been many a nice days (fall/spring have perfect weather usually) where I wish I could go do my work at one of the city parks -- gorgeous setting if you ask me and great for wi-fi since it's not very forresty.
Now then, Dmitri, you know how we've always talked about the possibility of something going wrong with the Bomb...
I figured out why the naturalists hates this thing. The park rangers went with pringle cans as their antennas. Imagine hundreds of pringle cans everywhere on trees, rocks, animals! :)