Facetimers rejoice! Free Wifi on Starbucks starting on July 1

[edtorious]

http://starbucks.tekgroup.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=397

"Appearing at WIRED’s Business Conference Disruptive by Design today, Howard Schultz talked with WIRED’s Chris Anderson about “Evolving the Starbucks Experience in an Ever-changing World.” Schultz recounted the challenges of leading the Starbucks transformation following his return to the company as CEO in 2008. With a focus on lessons learned, Schultz’s talk included how the company sought to embrace social and digital media and continues to look for new ways to bridge the third place coffeehouse experience with the digital world. As part of this commitment, Schultz recognized customers’ desire for a better in store Wi-Fi experience and announced that on July 1, Starbucks will turn on one-click, free Wi-Fi through AT&T in all U.S. company operated stores."

I guess we'll probably see a lot of people at Starbucks doing Facetime then.

 

[lorenwade]

I saw that on the news today too! I was thinking the same thing. Great idea.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Excellent. So now Starbucks won't only be filled with self-important wannabe writers working on their screen plays on their shiny macbook pros so people can see them, they'll now be all video chatting with each other.

 

[Geckotek]

Didn't iPhone users already have free WiFi @ SBux? Why would this change anything re: FaceTime?

 

[MadMacxxx]

Didn't iPhone users already have free WiFi @ SBux? Why would this change anything re: FaceTime?

Yes, I think they do. I don't see how this changes anything for FaceTime unless, at a later point in time, it were implemented through iChat or some desktop application.

 

[lorenwade]

Because it's free-use WiFi... makes it so much easier. As long as WiFi is set to automatically join other networks, it'd much simpler.

 

[Geckotek]

Because it's free-use WiFi... makes it so much easier. As long as WiFi is set to automatically join other networks, it'd much simpler.

It's already free use for AT&T iPhone users. My iPhone auto-connects everytime I walk into a SBux. I don't have to do anything after joining the first location.

 

[lorenwade]

It's already free use for AT&T iPhone users. My iPhone auto-connects everytime I walk into a SBux. I don't have to do anything after joining the first location.

That's weird. I've never encountered that. Maybe it's cause I've never noticed it. Thanks for the good info.

 

[MadMacxxx]

That's weird. I've never encountered that. Maybe it's cause I've never noticed it. Thanks for the good info.

Do you have, "Ask to Join Networks," turned ON?

 

[lorenwade]

Do you have, "Ask to Join Networks," turned ON?

I feel like an iDiot now. Thanks! Hahaha.

 

[lilo777]

Yeah, that's great!

Speaking on their iPhone 4s:

He: "Dear I am missing you!"
She: " I am missing you too".
He: "How far are you from the Starbucks?"
She: "About five miles."
He: "Great. Could you get there so I could see you?"

 

[TurboSC]

Some idiot is going to spill hot coffee on their new iPhone 4 and their lap... lawsuits will follow.

 

[Geckotek]

Do you have, "Ask to Join Networks," turned ON?

No, I manually joined one SBux. Since they all use the same SSID, everytime I walk into an SBux, it auto-connects. In the beginning there was some stupid login process, but about a year ago AT&T did away with that. I assume now they know based on your MAC address they know you're on an iPhone.

 

[iphone1105]

Excellent. So now Starbucks won't only be filled with self-important wannabe writers working on their screen plays on their shiny macbook pros so people can see them, they'll now be all video chatting with each other.

Such a steroetype of a Starbucks, in Los Angeles its like that. But I've been to plenty and just see nice folks browsing the web and such having fun! Not everyone is a script writing ******.

 

[Geckotek]

Such a steroetype of a Starbucks, in Los Angeles its like that. But I've been to plenty and just see nice folks browsing the web and such having fun! Not everyone is a script writing ******.

Ok, Dallas is like that too....now I have to post this again....

My Great West Village Starbucks Experiment

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Such a steroetype of a Starbucks, in Los Angeles its like that. But I've been to plenty and just see nice folks browsing the web and such having fun! Not everyone is a script writing ******.

I'm in Los Angeles.

 

[SimonTheSoundMa]

Starbucks have always been free to everyone in the UK, and I think the rest of the world. Odd there are charges in the USA.

 

[Daiden]

This is actually BAD news for people wanting to use Facetime. Starbucks wifi has always been free for iPhones, but now that everyone in the building can get free wifi as well, prepare for incredibly slow video chat sessions due to limited bandwidth.

 

[Geckotek]

This is actually BAD news for people wanting to use Facetime. Starbucks wifi has always been free for iPhones, but now that everyone in the building can get free wifi as well, prepare for incredibly slow video chat sessions due to limited bandwidth.

Agree to a point, but it was very easy to get free WiFi @ SBux in the past. All you had to do was get an SBux card and register it. So I'm not sure this will make it that much worse...guess we'll see.