<quote who="John Erwin"> > There is some precedent for this. Paris just initiated WI-FI service > about 3-4 weeks ago. Also, it is my understanding that Buffalo, > Minnesota and Chaska, Minnesota both are initiating such a service as > well. > > Let me know your thoughts/concerns/ideas! ([EMAIL PROTECTED]).
Under a different economic climate, I'd say it's about time. However, considering that there are budget cuts everywhere, how do you justify this? I'm sure Minneapolis residents would like to see a cost analysis. I would also like to see a business plan where such an operation is self sufficient. If John Doe pays his taxes to support such an operation, but oops, he simply can't afford a brand new laptop with WiFi or even an old laptop, should he be able to not pay a portion of his tax? Isn't such an operation disenfranchising part of the population due to economic class? How about determining hot spots? That could get controversial if you have one or a few in North Minneapolis and dozens in SW Minneapolis. How about security? What sort of security will the city implement to make sure that WiFi connections can't be hijacked, or sniffed? Security is one of the biggest drawback of WiFi. Which WiFi technology will you implement? There are several and they vary in cost implementation. If you implement a less costly one now, you'll probably need to upgrade as soon as the project is done. If you implement the latest WiFi technology, how are you going to justify the cost? Don't get me wrong, I like WiFi. I have reservations if it's the right economic time to implement another costly city run business. In addition, I question the access availability to all tax payers. Thomas T. Thai // Whittier TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
