Ironically, my most recent browser crash here in the CCU happened while I was reading Would You Like Wi-Fi With That, by Paul Boutin in WIRED Magazine. <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/start.html?pg=4> It begins,

If wireless Internet access is such a hot technology, why is it such a dud business? Wi-Fi hardware, which uses radio signals instead of cables to connect computers to the Net, is already in more than 10 million laptops. But try to make a buck selling connectivity. Starbucks charges up to $6 an hour for in-store T-Mobile access - not much more than a double venti Frappuccino with a raspberry shot. Though its wildly successful overpricing works for coffee, it's failing with Wi-Fi. Demand for the service averages fewer than two customers a day per store.

Yet at Alt.Coffee in New York, where the wi-fi is free, the place is packed with customers with lattes and laptops. Same with Muddy Waters, the local caffeinery near my house in Santa Barbara. Free wi-fi brings dozens, even hundreds, of visitors every day to Bryant Park in the heart of Manhattan. They come with sandwiches and cappuccinos, or just with money to pay for lunch with their laptop at Bryant Park Grill. The free wi-fi is provided by the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, with help from NYC Wireless, which set up the whole system. Both groups are nonprofits. The profitable benefits they bring to local businesses, however, are considerable.

Boutin concurs. His piece continues,

If you want to see the right way to serve wireless access, find a Schlotzsky's Deli. The Austin, Texas-based sandwich chain figured out the secret of making money from Wi-Fi: Give it away. Schlotzsky's lets anyone sign up and use its network free, even if they don't come in for a sandwich. The chain advises its 600 franchise owners to beam Wi-Fi signals through the walls into nearby hotels, parks, and college dorms.