Most people, at some point in their lives, have been to an airport. Moreover, most people, at another point in their lives, have used the internet. Coincidence? Perhaps not.
Everyone's seen a phone booth at an airport, and the other assorted booths and stands littering the terminals: hot dog stands, instant photography studios, phone booths, newsstands. But recently a new addition is popping up – internet kiosks.
Internet kiosks are very similar to phone booths. Usually they're small terminals, with a keyboard or some other type of input, and a monitor (think of the email terminals at Norris). For a small fee, airport users can log on to the internet, check their email, read their news, and do whatever they'd normally do.So far these kiosks haven't quite taken off as industry watchdogs thought they would. No horribly long lines have formed, full of impatient email-checkers. Maybe people go to airports are for different reasons than just surfing the net—baggage claim watching comes to mind.
Airports aren't the only place the internet is invading. Before 2000, car manufacturers plan to have stripped-down computer terminals in automobiles, presumably for navigation. The unforeseen side effect of this could be the revolutionizing of rush-hour gridlock—playing against fellow motorists in Quake could relieve some of the stress. It's an altogether new type of road rage.
The sidewalks aren't safe anymore, either. Digital's Cambridge Research Lab is deploying "smart kiosks" onto the street which can detect passers-by and attract them to online content. Ideally, that is. In reality, the big loud boxes often scare those who come into contact with it with a simple, spoken "hello."
The lingering question, left in the mind of skeptics, is that of motivation. What's so great out there on the internet that makes it necessary to access it in the airport, at a stoplight, or on the street?
If it's so great, why not stay at the computer in the first place?
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