It looks like MS is following Google by setting up a municipal WiFi (Google News). It seems that (at least to me) Google has really started a push away from the desktop that is bound to a single location and now MS is following. If you think about it, it’s to MS’s advantage to do this because when is the last time (outside of video editing) that a stand alone computer was really of any use? MS needs this to work to make sure that people use it’s OS (and likely to sell a few ads), Google is doing it to provide an avenue for ads.
Microsoft goes WiFi
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Comments
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Interesting to see Microsoft attempting to wade into Google terrritory. I agree that Microsoft needs to follow Google in web-based apps which are desktop-independent, and it appears they’re heading that way. Google’s public wifi is such a smart move given their ad-driven existence and their move to mobile devices – can’t you just see doing a Google search on your mobile device and, using Google’s wifi, being shown all the targeted ads based on the location of your search? I think the only thing that scares me more than Google knowing what I search for is them knowing where I am and combining these two in ads, but it’s still a brilliant business model and if it’s free and the ads are targeted, maybe it’s not so bad…
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It reminds me of Minority Report in some ways where the “system” knows who you are at all times.
I don’t think it will be hard for Google to do – especially on mobile, because as soon as they have your number, every time you text for movies or directions, they will be able to log that to target ads more directly. Hopefully we won’t see that on the txt we get back or on the gmail app for mobile, but online, where there is space and time, sure.
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