Here it is, Friday again. The Featured Foto this week is a little sign of big things to come:
That discreetly placed 8"x12" placard in New York's Bryant Park announces to all who care about such things that Google is donating very serviceable free wi-fi access within the park's confines. Oh, and they're doing the same thing in San Francisco.
Well, that's very nice, but, why do we care?
Because the connectivity transformation that began a decade ago is coming up on another milestone.
Back when the World Wide Web was still known as the Information Superhighway, most people thought of the Internet as a fancy TV/mail order catalog. "Content is king" meant that millions of "eyeballs" would to be "captured" via "sticky" material produced by media giants. This material would be delivered through single point-of-entry "portals," which would filter and manage this information for our consumption. Oh, and, get us to buy stuff from them.
Well, pop went the bubble, right about the time Doc and the boys clued us in to the conversation (sick enough of that word yet?) that are markets.
Now we're talkin' about Web 2.0 as a metaphor for the new creative Web, on which we're all "content creators" (hey look, I'm blogging!). Mash-ups, Flickr, del.icio.us, Craigslist, and the raft of new Google-map-based apps that pop up daily are all evidence of the change from passive to active Web involvement.
And now, with ubiquitous wi-fi literally around the corner, the connectivity we've been developing is about to become even more deeply integrated into everyday life.
Of course, Google can't wait. When every wi-fi enabled device can identify your location, Google will be there to send you recommendations of a great place to find a special gift within a 1/4 mile. And, those are ads that you might actually not mind receiving. You'll then be able blog about it, post an image of the cute girl who runs the shop and move on. Not to mention ask your co-workers if there's a customer nearby who you might want to drop in on.
Imagine a generation of kids who'll grow up expecting always-on, ubiquitous broadband access to everyone and everything. Like it says up there in the banner, "Connecting people for results." Wow.
Tags: Google Free Wi-Fi
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