Wi-Fi Should Be Free

Advances in technology have created the right conditions for free Wi-Fi. Coffee shops and hotels that still charge their customers are being unnecessarily extortionate, says Farhad Manjoo for Slate.com. “Starbucks is smart to stop charging for Internet access. Fancy hotels should follow suit,” he says. “The case against charging for Wi-Fi is partly technological: Thanks to smartphones and other cellular gadgets, a lot of us don’t need to pay up anymore. Phones capable of Wi-Fi ‘tethering’—which allow you to get Internet access for your laptop through your cell plan—are becoming more numerous; there are several ways to turn on free tethering in your Android phone, and Verizon offers it at no additional cost on the Palm Pre.”