Starbucks is taking free Wi-Fi to the next level

In case you hadn't heard, a couple days ago, Starbucks recently announced a change to their policy for in-store Wi-Fi.   I won't recap all the details, but you can read Network World's recap -- or go straight to the source by reading about the change in the Starbucks Newsroom.

Is free Wi-Fi really all that revolutionary? No, not really.  It seems like it's almost everywhere these days -- not only coffee houses, but other bars & restaurants, sporting venues, airports, etc.   It's even on many planes, trains, and automobiles. 

However, as you can see by the title of this post, I think that Starbucks *is* bringing free Wi-Fi to the next level in a couple ways:

• First, they are simplifying the process.  The current process requires up to nine clicks to properly register and log on to the network.  Apparently, they are going to simplify this to one click.   Does making it simple increase the adoption and popularity of whatever is being simplified?   Ummm... yeah.  Have you heard of the iPod?  Nobody used mp3 players until they were simplified with the advent of the iPod. Or how about Google?  When all the other search engines were making their pages more and more complex with fantasy sports, news, and weather, Google presented its users a white page with a single search bar. 

• Second, they are offering free access to premium content / paid sites, such as the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/home-page).  Like I said, free Wi-Fi is rather ubiquitous.  But Starbucks is strengthening their existing relationships and developing new partnerships to offer their customers more value by providing access to additional information.  I think this is particularly important in an information-driven economy. 

Starbucks new strategy doesn't surprise me one bit though.  I recently saw Starbucks CIO and General Manager, Digital Ventures, Stephen Gillett (@stephengillett)  speak at Forrester's IT Forum in Las Vegas.  Mr. Gillett seemed very focused on helping meeting business needs through IT (rather than IT for its' own sake).  I walked away from his presentation thinking that he was a forward thinking business leader that understood balancing strategic and tactical needs. 

Personally, I love to see the evolution of free Wi-Fi.  Starbucks has definitely upped the ante -- who will respond?  And how?

Douglas J. Haider is a Wireless Consulting Engineer with Xirrus. He hosts a personal blog at WiFiJedi.com, and micro-blogs on Twitter @wifijedi