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The Starbucks/AT&T Deal To Change Perception of Public Wi-Fi?
ericatcw writes "According to ComputerWorld, with two hours of free Wi-Fi soon to arrive at Starbucks consumers should expect more hotspots to go free as well as more attractive bundles from the likes of AT&T, Verizon and providers. While T-Mobile is hurting, indie coffeehouses and chains such as Caribou Coffee, Tully's and others that already offered free Wi-Fi, insist they are not, saying their ambiance and superior brew will help them retain customers."
That ubiquitous, free (if slow) wifi is going to be the way of the future?
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Aside from airports* and some hotels, wireless is free everywhere that has it. (And what are you going to do, use another airport?)
Seemingly everywhere now has free wireless: coffee shops, my car dealership, bars, etc. Why on earth would I go to Starbucks and pay $2 for a coffee (not a double soy quad shot latte, a COFFEE) and then pay an extra $10 for a wireless connection?
That deal was doomed from the start and in today's climate is just silly. The new one is quite realistic.
* Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, I believe, have free wireless at the airport. Nice of them!
Somebody call a whaaaaaambulance. For God's sake, the only reason T-Mobile's service had any operating costs was because they were trying to charge customers money. When you give away wi-fi for free, as most places are doing now - and not just coffee houses - it costs virtually nothing. What, $400 for a cheap PC and wireless router that any 15 year old employee knows how to run backwards and forwards?
A-Bomb
so basically its not free. Not a surprise there. Also means its not going to generate any more business than the current plan does, which is not exactly extravagant I'm sure. I guess it's going to be a while before they figure out that catering to customers is a good thing.
For every Starbucks here in the USA that charges for Wifi, there's a mom 'n' pop or local chain coffeehouse across the street that offers it for free.
In fact, I've heard that a sure way to open a successful independent coffee shop is to open one right by a Starbucks. They've already done all the research on the location for you, and given a choice, I think a lot of people prefer to support the little guy and enjoy a less commercial atmosphere.
Sheesh.
Um, sorry: Caribou, S'bucks et al are NOT really in the coffee business. Coffee's the apparent center, I'll agree, but the real foundations of the business are very different. S'bucks--at one time--said they wanted to form the basis of a new civil forum. A place to share with other people. Oh yeah, and have some coffee.
Look, movie theaters stopped being in the "movie business" when Hollywood took 100% of the door. (70's in major markets, ubiquitous by mid 80's) That's when they became "Quik E Marts with moving pictures on the back wall." McDonalds, I'm told, is not principally in the burger biz: they own/control so much primo real estate that their worth is not in meat served but in land owned.
Your store is trying to make a place for meeting, and hoping to capitalize on that by selling coffee and sundries to those who chose to meet there. So it's the place first, then the coffee. Wifi's part of the decor, do it right, sell more coffee.
Put another way: if WiFi were a cost in excess of return, your bosses would be enforcing that "one card per purchase" rule with an iron fist. So like you said, it's not worth the hassle: give it away upon request. That's a high enough bar for the boardroom, it should be for you too.
And relax about the schlubs in the seats. If turnover were an issue, your bosses' bonuses would depend on solving the problem. (Imagine: A norovirus policy, wherein the whole place needs to be bleached every 90 minutes. Turnover problem solved.)