27th July 2009, 04:08 pm
Yet another one of Pew’s endless reports — this one from a survey done in April 2009 — talks about the increase in wireless Internet usage. The part that interests me is that about mobile devices:
The report also finds rising levels of Americans using the internet on a mobile handset. One-third of Americans (32%) have used a cell phone or Smartphone to access the internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or information-seeking. This level of mobile internet is up by one-third since December 2007, when 24% of Americans had ever used the internet on a mobile device. On the typical day, nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the internet on a mobile device, up substantially from the 11% level recorded in December 2007. That’s a growth of 73% in the 16 month interval between surveys.
Hey, that’s me they’re talking about! Before I got my piPhone in March, I had an old brick of a phone that basically… I know, how silly… made phone calls. Now, I read email or look things up or otherwise go online on my iPhone just about every day — and after just four months, you’d have to pry the thing away from me.
And that’s some serious growth in less than 1.5 years. Some interesting stuff for libraries piloting mobile services.
6th June 2008, 11:38 am
Starbucks has a deal going with AT&T as their new wireless provider; if you register a giftcard on their site (and use it at least once per month), you get two free hours of in-store AT&T wireless daily. (Plus a free drink coupon, free refills, and some other stuff — I registered mine!) On the one hand, yay — I tend to choose Panera over Starbucks when I have a kid-free hour or two to get work done, precisely because of free wireless (and free refills). On the other hand, boo — why run people through the random “register a gift card and get an AT&T account” hoops? I can walk into any Panera and hop onto their wireless without having to remember account info (or to keep using that giftcard). I don’t even really like Panera’s weak coffee, but they trump Starbucks in terms of customer service on this one.
(And yes, I could go to the library — but they don’t have any coffee at all!)
8th September 2007, 08:25 pm
The ALA Editions blog a couple of weeks ago mentioned ING Direct Cafes, which they say “could be mistaken for library branches.” I’m not so sure about that, but I bet they’re giving free wireless at Panera a run for its money. It’d be interesting to know how many cafe visitors convert into customers — if I lived or worked near one of these I might be inclined to check them out. More enticing than a free toaster, anyway!
(By the way, the ING site has a printable free beverage coupon, on the off-chance there’s one of these in your neighborhood and you want to check it out.)
