Once again, I sit in an airport terminal, blogging. However, unlike last time, the experience is not “too cool.” My flight from Sacramento to Portland is delayed about two hours, meaning I won’t take off until after I was supposed to land. And the wireless, though it exists, is not free. I’m too cheap to pay, so my wireless experience is limited to glancing at the green wireless network status indicator. Mousing over the green yields the useless tip, “Excellent Link Quality 80%.” For fun (woo-hoo!), I point again. “Good Link Quality 73%.” Now, thanks to the Windows SP2 issue I mentioned earlier, the indicator is red, and the pop-up box is truthfully declaring, “Wireless network unavailable.” It’s time to plug in my headphones and listen to Robben Ford. Somehow, “Don’t Deny Your Love” seems strangely appropriate.

What’s next? Coin-operated meters on electrical outlets?

I hope one of these days airports and other public facilities treat wireless access like mains power: they install it because they need it for their operations and don’t prevent others from using it as well. What’s next? Coin-operated meters on electrical outlets so airports could make a few extra bucks off travelers charging their cell phones or running their laptops during extended delays? That would be real customer service!