meraki

Gavin Newsom insinuates himself into latest San Francisco wireless Internet plan

Jackson West · 06/13/08 10:20AM

The San Francisco Examiner was kind enough to add a quote from visionary God-mayor Gavin Newsom to a short article about Meraki's plans to provide a few free wireless routers to San Francisco residents in order to create free Wi-Fi hotspots in San Francisco neighborhoods. "People act as relays and they are able to be receptors of sorts,” Newsom told the Ex — in a quote that Gavvy-Gave also could have used to describe the local hepatitis epidemic. Meraki's plans, however, won't spread hepatitis-fast:

Dirty hippies may get free Wi-Fi after all

Mary Jane Irwin · 01/04/08 06:00PM

Despite the best efforts of San Francisco's professional complainers, the dream of free Wi-Fi for the city, dashed by EarthLink's exit from the market, lives on. Startup Meraki, responsible for the "Free the Net" Wi-Fi hotspots popping up across the city, plans to blanket San Francisco in wireless signal by midyear. This is no good Samaritan act. It's trying to prove that free, possibly ad-supported Wi-Fi is plausible, possible and popular. Then it's going to take advantage of developing countries by selling them cheap Wi-Fi routers. It's sort of like One Laptop Per Child, but with a business plan.