Hotspots
I ate trough my internet allowance again and I didn't even notice when it went through the chargeable megabytes because I was downloading some stuff while watching men in tights on RTE TWO. In order to finish downloading I went to the local pub that I knew had free wifi.
They switched to bitbuzz. Bitbuzz is chargeable and you can only get the vouchers at the bar. The vouchers are for 20 minutes only.
Since joining the community of internauts I've almost always had unlimited access to the web. If it was limited by anything it was always the download cap, never the time. I have long forgotten how little 20 minutes on the web is. It's very very little. I checked my emails (nothing again?) and read one or two blog articles while munching on my goats cheese salad and before I knew 20 minutes were gone. I had a very interesting offer of topping up by credit card or subscribing for a month to continue using the web. Hold on, I've got that already with my own mobile internet and it sucks, why on earth would I do it?
I'm just slightly pissed off. Case you don't know, free internet hotspots are there to lure more clients in, not to aggravate them. I'm aggravated - is this how you spell it? Either way they have just lost all the moneys I would spend on beer and coffees that I would drink while waiting for the end of my billing month, i.e. a week worth of beverages. For I sure won't be asking for a bleedin' voucher every fuckin' twenty minutes.
While everyone knows there is no such thing as a free lunch, now there isn't such a thing as a free hotspot. Not here anyway.
I seem to be reaching next door pub's network from my cosy seat outside - while I dislike Martello passionately, they still have free wifi there. I can certainly say that my loyalty to the Porter House is being seriously tested now. No amount of goats cheese salad, no matter how tasty, is equally comforting as free wifi.
That made me wonder about the wireless and networks in general. I don't know how the rest of the world thinks about it, but I have learned to think about internet connectivity as something that is rightfully mine, like the right to breathe and say stupid things. I'm taking it for granted. It's always been there. At home, at work, out and about, internet is everywhere.
Not being connected made me feel lonely in a pub full of people.
Weird how it sounds, I have a nasty suspicion that I have been substituting TCP/IP for having friends. It always pings back.
Yup, that sounds like me alright. Next thing I will make myself a robotic cat.
| Tags: Opinion and Observations
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