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 According to The Metro newspaper on Friday (2/29/2008), “The construction of the city’s wireless Internet network has officially come to a halt.” I’m not surprised. Why? Because as a friend of mine had said, “Philadelphia is where technology comes to die.” Don’t get me wrong, I love Philly in some ways, and have been living in the area for over 20 years. But it’s no surprise that Earthlink has decided to sell this over-publicized, under-achieved network set up under former Mayor John Street. It had experienced scheduling setbacks and technical issues from the very beginning, and the layoff of half of Earthlink’s workforce back in August of 2007 didn’t make Philly Wifi look like a promising venture either.
Wireless Philadelphia said Thursday it has connected close to 1,000 digital inclusion customers to the wireless network since June. That’s far from its original goal of 10,000 in the first year.
Who’s going to buy up this lost cause? Have they even set up those purported “Eye in the Sky” surveillance cameras yet in an effort to help reduce crime? Let’s face it, the closest thing to cutting edge technology in Philly was probably used in making my Dunkin Donuts coffee this morning.
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Yikes, that’s a bit harsh. I’m sure there are still at least some places in the city offering free wireless - even if it isn’t city-wide.
There have always been certain sections of the city where wifi has been free but to my understanding, it was really set up to help bridge the “digital divide” and offer low-income families wifi at a cheaper rate… they still charge $9.95/month for it.
Earthlink? Philly? Bad combination. I wouldn’t say this post is harsh, but rather funny. Philly IS a dead city.
Philadelphia is due for some change. Actually the Metro this morning had some positive news about the potential for future SEPTA changes due to an increased budget. I think that the new mayor will start to make a difference. (but maybe I am just being optimistic!)
Dave, how does changing SEPTA address the issue of technology dying in Philadelphia?
Well it is a start… the article mentions “big issues like new fare technology” I was thinking that maybe we’ll finally move on to a system that is more advanced than tokens and more like New York (and most other cities)where you put money on a card.
I think Dave means: technology increase in SEPTA = technology increase in general for Philly under Mayor Nutter :)
Dave, didn’t they try to do that with getting rid of transfers (those annoying little paper slips you get when you go from one train to another to a bus, etc.) last year? I thought it was the Philadelphia residents that were against that change … not the government … but I may be wrong as I wasn’t living or working in the city at that time.
Well getting rid of transfers was not an improvement… that was Septa taking away a service to save money and force people to pay more. I am talking about revamping the whole system, not just the prune back features and increase fares approach that has been the Septa norm.
Nicole, get back to working on that presentation!
I have to agree with Rayana, but not for the same reasons. I don’t think this has anything to do with Philly, although I will say that the tech industry in Philly is woefully lacking. As far as I know these city-wide wireless projects have been going under across the nation.
The idea is sound but the follow through is terrible. Residents and businesses all over the city are begging for a choice other than Comcast and they dropped the ball. I can’t get the Wi-fi in my house, the signal can’t penetrate a brick wall, which you know is practically 90% of all buildings in Philadelphia. All they would have to do is offer a signal booster in every building for $50, put it in your window and you’d have a functioning wireless service. I can’t believe a National company can just be so stupid about the basic technology it provides… I mean… bricks??!
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