the board is set
To quote Gandalf - "...the board is set..."
Google makes a serious play into the future of innovation by taking san fran wifi. City wide wifi. Wow. That's what people have been thinkin about really, what kind of amazing innovation can you spark by wifing a whole city?
Did san fran just become the new epicenter for the location based awarness movement or what? City wide wifi, holy cats people, does that really mean anything?
Clearly part of me wishes I lived in SanFranLand, but alas, Ohio is my home. Still I can't even begin to wonder of all the various web 2.0 location based awareness jacked up folks out there who are gonna tap into the idea of a wifi city concept.
The board is set. Google lites the fire, it removes the connectivity barrier and says "go for it people, be wired."
Course just cause the city is wired doesnt mean people have the tool to use it. Most phones are not wifi enabled. So at first it'll be the laptop-wired folks in cafes, parks and street corners and the select few PDA folks out there making use of the wifi. BUT...
Then ya think about the players, the makers of phones, here's a city thats wifi, wow, maybe this will really kick the wifi enabled phones up. Course, come think of it, maybe I dont even need a traditional phone. Maybe I just need my skype like device. Its a phone but its wifi and its FREE.
Boundless experimentation about to be had here people. How many days, months or years before another city goes wifi and the ball keeps rolling from there.
How long will it be before the big bells scream and shout and then ole goverment rolls into town.
Sadly the board is set and all the way over here! Heh. I wish I was there, accessing, inventing, experimenting and researching the wifi society that is about to unfold. What new products, services and new social norms will be generated out of this venture. The age of hackability is here.
Simply put, the board is set. The pawns are in motion, we can't stop it, we can talk about it, ponder it, even make a few moves for or against it but its coming. Man I love the future!