Too Latte, Too Late
The last to the party: Starbucks goes to free Wi-Fi July 1, but is it too farbehind?
Remember how you used to actually pay for Wi-Fi when you spent hours upon hours poring over gossip rags at Starbucks on Saturday afternoons when you were supposed to be studying? Don't worry. It was probably back in grad school, in, like, 2002 or something.
Well, say goodbye to the good ol' days of corporate cafe crunching.
Starting July 1, Starbucks will no longer go skinny on your 'net access. Starbucks is offering Wi-Fi for zero dollars and zero cents!
Right now, Starbucks surfers get up to two hours free after registering, but it costs $3.99 for each additional two-hour block.
The coffee giant is certainly not the first big chain to go back to the days of unrestrained Internet usage, but it's probably the one where you'll want to pop a squat the most.
We're guessing that most of you web-surfing cafe denizens migrated to stellar hometown places like Antidote, Agora, and Coffee Groundz years ago. Local java joints like these have always given free Internet to their patrons, making cyber commandeering all but obsolete. Earlier this year, even McDonald's added free Wi-Fi to more than 11,500 locations.
But with this measure, Starbucks is counting on its coffee beans that you'll give the hot drink hegemon a second shot.
Is free Wi-Fi enough to lure you back to Starbucks? Or did you remain loyal to the lady on the label through it all?