Ad Agency Uses Homeless as WiFi Hotspots

As any twenty-something Silicon Valley entrepreneur or forty-something New York venture-capitalist will tell you, the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Tex.

[Hunglo]

I fail to see what is wrong with this as long as the homeless were being compensated for it.

[Spotted Girl]

Not a bad idea if the homeless are compensated. But I see a sick irony. They are homeless, but 4G is not. It gets to live on the homeless while the homeless have no place to live.

Yes, some will consider this exploitation. Things are what you make of them. But at least it is something for them to do and some way of making money. Like the article says, it is a social opportunity, so maybe they can talk to people, educate them about their issues, and garner some opportunities. Something else to consider is that there are people who like being homeless, or who are homeless by choice. There is freedom on the streets that doesn't exist in normal society. Yet, some want to take that freedom from them and impose what they think they should have without considering their wishes.

[Dr Stinko]

Have no idea how an idea like this gains traction.
It's kinda like a plot for a Robot Chicken episode...

[OneRyder]

So my signal gets stronger the closer I get to a homeless person?

I could see myself accepting a very low signal all the time.

[Xstain Fatwa Puking]

You know the ones hiring themselves out as homeless wifi spots are hackers, though. They're going to wipe your windshield and your hard drive clean....

[Keep Calm and Carry On]

Employment for the homeless is an excellent idea.

[Xstain Fatwa Puking]

If there's too much demand these wifi hotspots will be throttled. To death.

[scoobydrewby]

The big deal about this is that they're getting paid $2 and hour when it should at least be minimum wage.
Yeah, maybe if they are homeless they deserve anything they can get, but if you're getting taken advantage of, then at least consider it as a full/part time job and pay them right.

[El Viajero]

This is ridiculous! These bums are getting paid, and that's a good thing. It may not be much, but even if it's only $2.00 an hour, that's better than laying around drinking malt liqour an being a nuisance.

i would be willing to bet they're getting a lot more than $2.00 an hour. Bums are pretty arrogant and demanding.

[Hunglo]

Even if they are only getting $2.00 per hour that $16 could mean the difference between going to bed hungry and sober or getting that 12 pack of Natty Ice and a cheesburger.

[scoobydrewby]

Hunglo wrote:

Even if they are only getting $2.00 per hour that $16 could mean the difference between going to bed hungry and sober or getting that 12 pack of Natty Ice and a cheesburger.

You have an excellent point there.
I agree with that.
But that's what they said on the news on TV, and there was this group of labor officials who opposed the $2 thing.
But I agree, every little bit helps!

[falkmiksa]

http://users.falkmiksa.wbh.hu/

http://falkmiksa.tuti.hu/

[centereach ny]

i wonder what exactly the compensation package was?
personally i think this was exploitation by the corporation of people who would do almost anything for a buck.
my real thought is were they at least given minimum wage for the time they spent wearing these routers.
to me though it shows some of the corporate thought these days. people are no longer people to corporations just a resource to use and discard when no longer needed.
remember when there was a place you went to in your company if you had a problem in the workplace or whatever? they used to call that personnel
now it's human resources.

think about it...