Myrtle Beach Named Top 10 Wireless Destination
Not one day after I posed the question, "Should Myrtle Beach Join the Wireless Revolution?", one major publication gave us their answer: you're already there, dude.
Wired Magazine just released its list of top 10 Wi-Fi beaches in the U.S., and Myrtle Beach was included in the mix. They join some elite beach destination company (Waikiki, Malibu, Newport Beach, Atlantic City and South Beach Miami, among others) that offers the most access to either 802.11b or 802.11g technology.
So in my mind, the question remains focused on what the Grand Strand might do to make wireless access truly universal along the shoreline; officials in Hermosa Beach, California offer insights in this article on how they did it. Jacksonville, Florida was singled out as the first beach catering to tele-vacationers when they installed Wi-Fi service along its sand in 2001.
Much as we'd all like to think that our beach vacation time is being used strictly for relaxation, this article points out the most telling, emerging trend that we simply can't ignore. According to a recent Harris poll, 53 percent of vacation travelers admitted they take their laptops to exotic (read: beach) destinations to meet both their daily business and personal e-mail needs.
Thanks, John and Jim, for the heads-up on the Wired piece.
Seems to me that it could easily be a more cost effective approach than what the governor is proposing. Would it hurt to at least explore the possibility?