Note: "The Research Triangle" in North Carolina, not Raleigh,Durham and Chapel Hill. Regions are growing. Stay tuned!
posted by lew at 09:42 P.M. EST on Wed Jun 08, 2005 #
Frank Szollosi notes:
"An unwired city is a good carrot in our hunt to attract jobs and investment. Wireless districts, along with targeted education and training programs, can also help bridge the "digital divide" to economically depressed citizens of Toledo."
I agree with the above. Frank continues:
"We met at the University of Toledo's Urban Affairs office two years ago - not long after I became a councilman & around the time Richard Florida spoke at the Peristyle - to discuss municipal wi-fi districts in Toledo. The top folks over at Buckeye Cable really are the ones who took the lead and made the investment in our library system and some of our public spaces."
When I first heard about Toledo's unwired ranking, I sarcastically wondered how much of a role did city government play in this. Naturally, I thought zero. Except for the library, I assume the business owners have taken the initiative on their own and without government help to enable wireless access at their businesses. Is Frank saying that he and/or Toledo government somehow had a part in Toledo's unwired ranking?
Another story idea, what's really behind Toledo's unwired ranking? How much of the credit goes to Buckeye Cable, to city government, to the private business owners? How does Toledo go from 64th to 5th in one year?
To change Toledo for the better, it will have to come from the private sector and not from city government. Toledo can't wait for city government. Toledo will improve despite city government. I was thinking Toledo's unwired ranking is a good example of what can be accomplished by the private sector without the aid of government.
Even the Bronze Boar, a cigar lounge and bar and Russ Lemmon's favorite place to hang out, has wireless access. Did Toledo government help with this? I'm guessing a big fat hell no. The Boar almost went out of business because of Toledo government's absurd strict smoking ban. Get government the hell out of the way, and the business owners can change Toledo.
I bet there are nerds out there looking at this ranking and not seeing any surprises in the top 10 except for Toledo. They're probably scratching their pointy heads and wondering how in the heck did Toledo, Ohio crack the top 10? It has to be a typo. What's going on in Toledo?
Checking Intel's Wi-Fi HotSpot finder for Toledo, even fast food restaurants are listed.
posted by jr at 01:58 P.M. EST on Thu Jun 09, 2005 #
Wow, jr, I'm stunned, here I thought there'd be mention of how Buckeye "un"-wiring the city would be some sort of Vast Block Conspiracy where they'd be monitoring all the data flowing through their access points in some sort of program to gather data on Block opponents that would put Echelon to shame.
I'll tell you why Toledo is in fact so high: it's because the city itself isn't rolling it out -- Philly tried it and Verizon immediately whipped out the lawyers and took it to court. But since Buckeye is in bed with everyone from the city government to Owens Community College ($1 million and the Caller ID info they send is still wrong, if it's sent at all), nobody objected to wi-fi being rolled out in Toledo.
Sad fact is that there is no market for it, because all the techies in the state live around Columbus.
posted by anonymouscoward at 02:18 P.M. EST on Thu Jun 09, 2005 #
You were expecting me to imagine some kind of conspiracy? That's the realm of others.
Check that Intel HotSpot finder for Toledo. It lists 61 locations in Toledo with wi-fi access. I didn't view the providers for all of them, but the Toledo library lists Buckeye Wireless. Most of the others I checked had other providers, which prompted my question as to how much did Buckey Express play a part in this unwired ranking? I think Frank gave credit to Buckeye Express as a major kiss-up to Block. How about that for a conspiracy?
One of the providers that shows up for some Toledo businesses is Airpath, which used to be headquartered in Toledo but has moved to Massachusetts.
posted by jr at 03:32 P.M. EST on Thu Jun 09, 2005 #
Had my laptop not been damaged, I could drive around Toledo and actually take a look... but alas, it is now junk.
posted by anonymouscoward at 03:55 P.M. EST on Thu Jun 09, 2005 #
I agree that Toledo seems to be a good Wi-Fi city. I am amazed at the number of places my laptop picks up a signal.
I was at the orthodontist with my kid the other day and got a wireless connection.
Too bad I didn't hack in and change my kid's multi-thousand $$ charges.
posted by historymike at 04:19 P.M. EST on Thu Jun 09, 2005 #
"un-wired" was strictly the efforts of local businesses who saw the wireless access as a benefit to their bottom line...government had nothing to do with it.
And Intel's Hot spot finder is a great resource - it's not just Buckeye Express, but they are planning on expanding their service areas...
Amazing what can happen when you let the free market take action without government interference!
posted by intrepid at 06:00 P.M. EST on Thu Jun 09, 2005 #
I agree, government and Frank Szollosi had nothing to do with this ranking since it's all private businesses incorporating this technology. I do wish Toledo city government would blanket downtown with wireless internet. Talk about a huge motivation to get young people to move downtown and work out of their apartments! It's not even that expensive. I think Philadelphia paid about $100 per transmitter which covers a 1000 foot radius.
posted by HeyHey at 11:22 A.M. EST on Fri Jun 10, 2005 #
HeyHey wrote: "I do wish Toledo city government would blanket downtown with wireless internet."
Rumor has it that the city would rather have the County do it for them...use the county's money for the city to save them some dough...and with two former city council members on the board of commissioners, looks like it will happen
posted by intrepid at 12:07 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 10, 2005 #
I am not a knee-jerk free market type. There are some things that I do not believe should be in the hands of profit-focused organizations.
That being said, the last entity I would trust to keep up with the pace of evolving technologies would be our local governments.
Between the various voting and IT fiascoes with which the city and the county have become embroiled in the past few years, it is evident that most of the decision-makers are techno-idiots.
Just because Szollosi has figured out how to blog does not make him an expert. Besides, given the general level of ignorance many of our government leaders have demonstrated, Szollosi looks techo-savvy only in comparison with his peers.
I forsee the city and/or county investing in a bunch of older technology that would be obsolete before it came out of the boxes, and the taxpayers getting stuck with worthless technostructure from which few would benefit.
Except the people selling the transmitters.
And the hackers who figure out how to exploit what will likely be a poorly-secured network.
posted by historymike at 01:36 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 10, 2005 #
I don't know - I've been pretty impressed by some of the county IT people that I've come into contact with (note - NOT Board of Elections) - the problem is the elected officials who don't have a clue and are afraid to actually make a decision without some consultant study they can blame if something goes wrong.
That being said, I, too, believe the last people I'd want in charge of technology would be those in Toledo city government!
posted by intrepid at 02:08 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 10, 2005 #
Agreed.
The technology experts in the city and county do not make the decisions.
The decision-makers, as a group, have a proven track record for wasting money on obsolete technology, unneeded systems, and (as intrepid implied) expensive consultants, most of whom have political connections.
posted by historymike at 02:27 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 10, 2005 #
I also agree.
Those that have the knowledge and know how to use it are almost never listened to, while vendors or salespersons often are.
So much for "promoting from within," allowing management to go through the ranks actually doing things and applying their experience to the decision making process.
But, enough about the city, the county is a little better ;-)
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 06:05 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 10, 2005 #
On a closely related topic:
My laptop could have been purchased with wireless built in, but I took a pass.
I prefer a wired connection.
It IS more SECURE than a wireless connection, especially one run by a government...
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 06:11 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 10, 2005 #
The City Paper lists the locations of some of the WiFi hotspos in the area, along with the costs for the ones that aren't free.
posted by jr at 01:07 P.M. EST on Wed Jun 29, 2005 #
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