Starbusians throughout the United States are no doubt cheering today's news from the mothership: "We're very excited to announce that coming July 1st: Free. 1 click. No registration WIFI at all US locations!" As my friend @sfslim replied, "Sadly, given @Starbucks ubiquity, this may be the closest we get to nationwide municipal Internet access for years." ReadWriteWeb reports that the newly free access is part of a planned "free access to paid content" offering to roll out in the fall:
According to Starbucks, this new service, called the "Starbucks Digital Network," will give users who surf the Internet from U.S. company owned stores access to "various paid sites and services such as wsj.com, exclusive content and previews, free downloads, local community news and activities, on their laptops, tablets or smart phones." Besides the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks' partners include Apple's iTunes, The New York Times, Patch, USA TODAY, Yahoo and ZAGAT.
Related: Did you know McDonalds also offers free WiFi at more than 11,500 locations? (I didn't, until I read @docpop's tweet.)
