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Municipal WiFi Costs Outweigh Benefits
TheSync writes "JupiterResearch claims that muni WiFi costs outweigh benefits. It can cost up to $150,000 per square mile over five years, which may not even provide each user a benefit of $25 a month. They suggest that such projects only be taken on as public-private partnerships."
Common sense tells me that muni WiFi will result in my taxes going up, the government getting more control over my network access, a large government investment in soon-to-be obsolete technology that they will probably not be quick to replace, a lack of incentives for other WiFi operations to even try setting up in my area, and lots of money wasted on trivial issues as the government implements various (possibly conflicting) provisions on their WiFi network to satisfy special interest groups. Why exactly is this a "good thing"?
Look, if you people would just come out and say "I admire Karl Marx and think Che is the guardian of principled socialist ideals," at least I'd respect you. I would think you're a flippin' idiot, but an honest idiot.
Instead we have to put up with a bunch of noise about "price gouging" and "greed" and "market failure", which are just fancy ways of saying "I want internet service, and I'd like everyone else to help me pay for it -- even if they have no interest in using such a service. Government, please help me."
why should poor, elderly and plain old non-computer folks have their money confiscated by force (extra taxes) to support free wifi for 20 something slackers? Tell those freeloaders to get a second job at Macdonalds and earn the extra $30 a month they need for internet access.