Portland getting wi-fi

In my copyediting class the instructor quizzes us about recent news events by bringing in news clippings and most of us are largely clueless (including me). I stay reasonably up-to-date with national news and sorta with international. I’m probably more aware of what’s going on in France than in my own backyard (especially considering that I only recently found out that I don’t even have a backyard).

On that note I’m going to try to read OregonLive more often. It’s usually not a pleasant experience with the ads smeared all over the page and getting asked my zipcode and year of birth every time. One thing that I did find that’s pretty cool is an article titled MetroFi edges EarthLink:

Portland is taking a gamble by choosing Silicon Valley startup MetroFi to build the city’s wireless Internet cloud. Portland’s second choice, EarthLink, is an established Internet service provider that generates $1.3 billion in annual sales, and it’s already won Wi-Fi contracts in Philadelphia and San Francisco.

I’ve been aware of Google giving away wi-fi in various cities but I didn’t know that Portland had plans. Being able to crack open your laptop anywhere and have access sounds damn cool to me, as long as it’s not plagued by downtime and security issues. I imagine Comcast is going into convulsions right about now, although I expect they’ll still be able to offer higher quality service, though they may be forced to lower their prices when the people that just check their e-mail and do a little surfing no longer require a fat pipe.