Homeless people are being turned into walking internet hotspots where consumers can simply pay to get a password and log on.
The Homeless Hotspots initiative was pilotted at the SXSW music and technology conference in Austin, Texas – with a suggested price of $2 per 15 minutes.
Homeless people carried MiFi devices which connect to the internet via the 4G phone network and offer web access via a wi-fi network.
A promotional video uses wi-fi vendors, Clarence, a homeless man from New Orleans who lost his house in Hurricane Katrina. Here is a video of Clarence explaining how it works:
Interesting. I guess you didn’t see the post I made right after you were inviting people to comment or share stories. I DID have something for you on this. During the occupation of Duncan Plaza in New Orleans, I had my Droid Bionic Cellphone set up with it’s wifi hotspot to allow close by Occupiers to post stuff to the internet about the occupation. I didn’t charge for it like the guy in the video did, but it’s the same concept. I also had rigged up a computer, cellphone and full sized wifi router (the kind you hook up to the Internet, NOT “mifi”) right after Katrina to provide a network for a relief group I was helping out. I’m a trained computer repair technician and film maker and decided to use my skills for their benefit. If you’re interested, I can share a bit more in an article. But this is the basics. A LOT of people, both homeless and not homeless, are using the technology.