A controversial project called Homeless Hotspots is turning homeless Austin residents into mobile wireless hotspots outside the South by Southwest convention center.
With all those WiFi-hungry delegates and journalists descending upon the Queen City in September, would this idea gain traction here? Is it dehumanizing or revolutionary? Commenters, fire away.
Says CNN:
It’s part marketing stunt, part genuine charitable initiative — and it’s generating lots of double-takes and chatter from those who pass by.“I’m Melvin, a 4G hotspot,” reads the T-shirt of participant Melvin Hughes. “SMS HH Melvin to 25827 for access.”
Hughes is carrying a Verizon MiFi 4G hotspot. Texting his code sends back his network password, which the recipient can use to suck down a few minutes of fast broadband access — a scare commodity at SXSW, a tech/film/music gathering that has drawn more than 20,000 visitors to Austin, Texas.
Read the full story here.
This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2012.
