Monday, September 15, 2008

Technology is a wonderful thing

So it is far, far too early this morning, and I find myself in the local municipal airport. When I arrived, I was (pleasantly) surprised to find that the airport now offers free wireless Internet access.

What a change. Four years ago, when I first start with The Firm and a laptop, one paid a not insubstantial fee for limited use at the airport. You did it, of course, because that is what you needed to do.

The next step up (at my last jog) was the service, where the company paid for access for a number of hubs throughout airports and cities. Cheaper overall, I'm sure, but still, I (or the company) had to pay. An interesting subversion of this was that ATT/Yahoo also allowed me access through any Starbuck's - at one point, I was doing a work related trip completely out of Starbuck's, because that was where the access was.

And now, here I sit, typing away for free.

An interesting (and for me, within my lifetime) example of the democratizing principles of technology. At first, it is hard to come by, expensive, and and exclusive. Then, as technology becomes more advanced and produced more frequently, the cost goes down and access goes up. Finally, we reach the point where it becomes inexpensive (and available) to many.

Now, if we could only get more free coffee....

2 comments:

  1. Well, at least this was a positive blog and not a "gloom and doom" post! Anytime you can find anything travel related enjoyable is a good thing...

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  2. That's about all, other than the fact that I have free interent (wireless) in the hotel room as well. I am finding more and more that I enjoy traveling less and less...

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