Barnes & Noble switches to free WiFi, just the thing for your e-book reader
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jul 28th 2009 6:44PM
posted Jul 28th 2009 6:44PM
posted Jul 28th 2009 6:44PM
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They gave the iPhone users free WiFi! And now they're going to give it to me too! OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
!!!BUAHAHAHA!!!
That is a refference to this right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyophYBP_w4&feature=related
I'm going there tonight to grab a cup of coffee....might even hang around a bit to do my work now. =]
Can I come?
I'll be there too,
frankly its about time, I visit barns and noble much less than I would otherwise for studying, I buy loads of coffee so I'm sure they won't lose money on the deal.
Thank goodness.
Now time for AT&T & Starbucks to do the same.
Why ?
Because we want free wifi.
Just get a Starbucks card. You are supposed to get two hours of free wifi a day with it. I have yet to have that enforced here in MI. All that they require is that you make one purchase a month. Great deal.
Helps if u already have SBC DSL =)
This has been out for a week now, since the launch of the ebook section at bn. But i have been enjoying it since i work there
Get a coffee, read a book and surf the net. Damn I feel like I should pay them some rent.
Very cool, and about time! I don't think Borders offers this yet, so I guess for now, B&N has them one upped.
Fees and charges are the same thing. -_-
That reminds me, I should probably use Ubuntu when I'm there. Who knows if some weirdo is poking around on the unsecured channel.
how fast is it? or should i say how fast was it? now with everyone in the store clogging up the WiFi, I'm sure it's going to see a considerable drop in speed.
why are you complaining? its FREE WIFI, holy debbie downer
Probably an american, thats why.
Wow, OneLove you manage to come off as more of a dick than Dan. Grats.
This just means that AT&T wants you to get your iPhone out of 3G as often as possible, because they don't want to revamp their network.
I noticed this change last week, as I wasn't asked to log in to my AT&T wifi account. At the time, I figured they were just using a new cookie tracking system that remembered me from the last time I logged on. This is great though, as it means I can stop paying 20 bucks a month just to have internet access at my favorite place to study.
I don't understand why these stores all need to partner with a wireless carrier to offer Wi-Fi. I have a wireless router, and I didn't partner with anyone. If I had a business where people would actually be sitting down, I'd offer them free Wi-Fi, using the same (or better, most likely) hardware I have now. No carrier required.
I would expect that the stores receive a substantial (possibly complete) discount on the costs of running the wi-fi if it's handled by a wireless partner, though.
Why am I subsidizing you fat and lazy Wi-Fi freeloaders? My broadband costs are skyrocketing. I demand Wi-Fi reform.
The store probably earns more revenue from their cafe instead of their book sales. More time spent at B&N w/ free wireless means a very smart move, like the movie "You Got Mail," pretty much stated.
"Do you know what, we are gonna seduce them. We're gonna seduce them with our square footage, and our discounts, and ourdeep armchairs, & Our cappuccino(s)." - Joe Fox, Tom Hanks
@dannyboy414 - The store probably earns more revenue from their cafe instead of their book sales.
The teenager behind the 3-foot tall cake stand is the top revenue earner in a 2-story warehouse full of books? I might reconsider buying the Kindle now.
pirate bay ftw!
Didn't you hear? Pirate Bay is no longer FTW.
Exactly. Pirate Bay is now WTF.
FINALLY!
My wife likes to go to Borders (we don't have a B&N) find books she likes, then pulls out her Kindle and downloads them right there in the store.
i like the 9.99/book idea. especially if it does not involve Amazon's Kindle.
i wanna know how att is gettin all the publicity for free wifi when verizon came out the day before with free wifi for its broadband and fios customers at every location it has hotspots
I think it's interesting how the free WiFi in Cafes thing twists and turns its way into an equilibrium.
In reality, you need to make WiFi cheap but not free, and you need to make it very easy to purchase and enforce. Free WiFi decreases revenue sometimes when people come in, get a coffee, then sit there and work for 8 hours, hogging a table that could server other customers in the meantime.
If I had a Cafe, and it was empty most of the time, I'd offer free WiFi. If the Cafe was very popular and constantly packed, I'd not offer WiFi at all. If it was very popular because of the free WiFi, i'd make it cheap and easy.
I am one of these people who do most of their work in Cafes. But I do try to make sure I order something every hour, and don't spend more than 3 hours or so at one place. I am a freelancer, and I hate cubicles with a passion - Cafes are semi-public spaces, there are other people around, it's just perfect for inspiration. Well - nice Cafes are in any case.
"to say nothing of its forthcoming e-book reader"
hey guys its not their e-book reader device. Its Plastic Logic's device. The 2 companies have partnered so that owners of the device can buy book content right from the device using the ATT connection. That's as far as it goes. People "reporting" news should be more accurate with their wording.
yes I agree, finally...Its definitely a good move on their part
yes lets get this in to starbucks. i work there so i get it for free. but poor customers think its free and then they go there and its not and its obnoxious that AT&T has this weird process to get internet that cost way to much. or jump in and out of hoops with a rewards card in the hope that it might work and get internet when you need it. i am sorry but sbux need free wifi local shops get free wifi and other places now to. if sbux really wants to keep customers free wifi is the way to go. be on the customers side .
really about time.
now if i could somehow get that B & N 10% off all coffees for free....
this is some amazing news. and I'm much more likely to buy an e-book if i can use the demos while i'm there!
I totally got on that att wireless before it was as open by just using a generic username like lonewolf and did the "forgot my password" option and it asked me what my favorite movie was so i put in "the matrix" and i got on the wifi.