Today’s NYT has the story: putting a mobile router in school buses to offset the sometimes long commutes kids have. The students can do homework and chat online with teachers while they cover the miles to and from school and sporting events.
Yet another example of the gradual expansion of the Anywhere Network. It’s a natural hole to fill in the network fabric.
Here’s another one: Eurostar. I was stunned a few months ago when, after settling into my seat and carefully arranging my work things around me, I discovered that the train — a bastion of regular London-Paris commuters — was completely network-free.
Given that Google seems to be inclined to make large gestures to try to stimulate the behavior of others in the marketplace, perhaps its holiday-time free airport Wi-Fi should be followed up by free Eurostar Wi-Fi — perhaps during Roland Garros?
To be sure, the school students may not be using the access for schoolwork only. But the point is this: eventually we will find it incredibly anomalous to be offline. And talk of “going online” will feel just as incredibly dated. All of the things we will want to do while we’re moving around on public transporation — including the things that the providers of that transportation want us to do, like read their safety instructions and absorb advertising for their on-board food and drink — will require the network.
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