Nag, nag, nag...

Finally got to stop in at the renovated Bluford branch of the KCMO Public Library, and kudos to everyone involved for a splendid redo-except, of course, for the fact that there appears to be only a single table wired for power, and it's shunted over towards the west side of the building next to a very LCD-unfriendly bay window.  In a pinch, it might accommodate four users, but it seems even the management doesn't have confidence in that, since there are only three chairs.

Come on, people! It's 2010, for crying out loud.  Laptop users really shouldn't still be an afterthought by now.  

And from the looks of things, with every one of your public-access desktops occupied, I'd say you could use all the bring-your-own-computer patrons you can get.

Wonder what took them so long?

Associated Press:  Starbucks joins the free world.

Of course, Glenn Fleishman at Wi-Fi Networking News has a little to say about it as well.

Fleishman, in fact, follows up with this intriguing post on the potential effects of all this that's also worth a read.

What I find most interesting is his observation that this leaves AT&T with only 1,000 play-for-pay locations as opposed to twenty times that many that are now free and open.  One can only wonder how long that situation will prevail.

I'm also eager to see how many local establishments running closed networks will continue to do so in the face of this move by their competition.  If neither Starbucks nor McDonald's is worried about "campers," why should they still be afraid? 

Look for reviews here soon after the paywall falls on July 1.