The 2013 Promise
I read that Berlin’s government announced free wifi for everyone by 2013, and I felt that familiar sinking feeling. They always announce something, always set a date, then nothing happens. I want to believe differently this time. But I know better.
There’s something genuinely good about the actual idea, though. Imagine sitting in Berlin with your laptop and actually being able to post something, send an email, check the news—without your phone screaming about data limits, without being trapped in some overstuffed café full of people performing importance. That would actually be worth it.
But then you think about what it takes to get there. The government doesn’t want liability if someone uses the network for anything sketchy, so there’s this whole legal mess to sort through first. And they’re funding it with ads plus data sales—which fine, I get the economics, but it’s the same tired compromise you see everywhere.
Maybe 2013. Maybe not. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s handing out free wifi in New York and San Francisco like it’s nothing. These announcements keep coming about what might happen next year, while it’s already live elsewhere. That gap is the whole story right there.