Google is about to unveil its latest gift to the town it's slowly taking over: a municipal Wi-Fi network offering free Internet access to both residents and visitors to Mountain View, Calif. Google
WiFi is about to go live--at considerable expense to the young company, which doesn't stand to make a dime from it. The
San Jose Mercury News says the company "simply has more money than
sense." Whatever its motivation, the Wi-Fi network is being paid for and maintained by Google as a gift to the city. The only thing you'll need to tap into Google's Mountain View network is a user
name and password--which is free, and gives you access to Google's many Web services, like email, personalized news and a daily calendar. Once you enter your particulars, you're brought to a landing
page, which contains local information about the city, as well as advertising. As easy as all this sounds, there will be no technical support for those who need it. The company is, however, providing
some limited training to Mountain View-area librarians to help those who don't know how to log onto a Wi-Fi network or obtain an IP address. Google says the network will run at 1 MB per second, which
is slower than DSL and cable. It should be ready by the end of September.
Read the whole story at San Jose Mercury News »
