This ‘work anywhere with wireless hot spots’ thing is still bugging me, so I had to investigate Intel’s site to see where I could take my laptop and share in the public bandwidth.
It looks impressive to begin with – the database of places includes Japan and Bournemouth. So I fill in the details, hoping to find that I could be eating the best biryani in Tooting and collecting my emails at the same time.
Wireless? Brainless. The database – which is not searchable once you’ve got to the ‘town’ level – is in alphabetical order, so you have to scroll through 10 pages of entries like “212 Picadilly”, “Bagelmania”, “Caffe Nero (Frith Street” and so on until you find somewhere you recognise.
Now who creates a database of locations without using postcodes? Or decides where they’re going today on the basis of what letter the place begins with?
