Glenn Fleishmann points to this Boston Globe article as a good analysis of Wi-Fi's increasing trajectory of acceptance. The key point is that since the inception of Intel's $300 million dollar Centrino advertising campaign some hot spot providers are starting to see a significant boost in usage.
From a "man on the street" (actually more like a "lawyer in a high-rise") perspective, I can say I'm seeing the same thing. Up to now a few of the lawyers and staff members in our office have put wireless in their homes, but lately I'm starting to hear a lot of chatter by people who are usually tech-averse about getting Wi-Fi in their homes.
In fact, just today I put an Apple Airport in my dad's house for him. I hadn't messed around with Apple's product before (I have a Linksys WAP in my home). I have to say the Apple device was remarkably easy to set up (as was the set up of his new iBook laptop computer). Of course, seeing how easy his Apple laptop was to set up has made me yearn all the more for a 12" powerbook, but that's another story.
Anyway, my dad and his wife are very excited about using the laptop in their house, and they were completely blown away by the realization that they can roam around their house and still be on the Internet. Just down the street from their house is a bar/restaurant with good food and a wide selection of beer (seemy New Orleans hotspot page). So they are already talking about taking their laptop there sometimes. In a few weeks they are going to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and they are taking the laptop with them so that they can keep up with their emails. They wanted to know how they were going to connect to the Internet so I found this Internet Cafe for them that supposedly has wireless Internet access.
If they go there and manage to find a Wi-Fi connection then they will almost certainly be able to connect to the internet (because they have an Apple and the whole "connect to the Wi-Fi" process is completely idiot-proof) and send and receive their E-mail. Now that, to me, is a truly amazing prospect. With all due respect and compassion, these are two people who can barely figure out how to retrieve messages from their answering machine. And now they are part of the Wi-Fi crowd? Yikes!
Anyway, what is Olson's book about? As Mr. Howard describes it:
"The story starts with the golden promises of fairness for the masses through litigation. Purporting to represent thousands or millions of victims, these class-action lawyers sue corporate America over a wide variety of risks and vices of society, from asbestos to tobacco to fast food. The Robin Hood role they've assumed has timeless appeal. The modern twist is that they keep much of the money for themselves."
So, I wouldn't recommend it for most of my plaintiff lawyer friends. (Yes, I do have friends who are plaintiffs' lawyers). In fact, one of the lawyers I would recommend to anyone who was looking for a good plaintiff lawyer in the New Orleans area is Darryl Phillips. He's smart, methodical and well prepared, and he "gets it" when it comes to using technology. Here's the link to his firm website.
So there you have it, a post for both sides of the "v". Now let's get out there and have a good, clean fight.
