In NYC we have a lot of public hot spots (Columbia, Bryant park, etc...) that anyone can use. Some of them, if not most, have been set up by NYCWIRELESS, a non-profit. I have never used these hot spots since I go outside to enjoy the nice weather, not to surf the internet. I also get access to the internet on my smartphone/tungsten/laptop through my mobile carrier for no additional cost for now, anywhere there's cell service. Much better coverage than WiFi obviously, but as slow as 28.8 dial-up.

The problem that I have with public WiFi hot spots is about who pays for it and who uses it. A city/town can save a ton of money if all its workers use WiFi (for communication, automated tasks that cut down on paperwork, etc...) and if they use those savings to offset the cost of a city-wide WiFi network, great. Otherwise, if the taxpayer has to incur a cost for this, I'd say it was unfair to those that will never use the network, unless the city can draw enough benefit from the network to actually lower taxes in the long term.

For now, there are a still lot of people out there that don't even have a PC, much less a laptop, and many more people that wouldn't know how to use a hot spot. They shouldn't need to pay anything for the benefit of those that want the luxury of surfing the web outside.

A public wireless internet access also makes things marginally easier for any potential terrorist organization.

Does that mean you work for the military, either directly or indirectly?