Unwired Web, with Strings Attached

The O'Malley administration has concocted another high dollar bad idea, this time by propsoing that a requirement to include Wi-Fi capabilities be built in new subsidized housing:

New city-sponsored public and low-income housing units in Baltimore would be built Internet-ready - possibly with technology to supply wireless access to residents - under a proposal that advocates hope is a first step toward bringing the Digital Age to the living rooms of the city's poor.

The initiative, crafted by Mayor Martin O'Malley's administration, would require developers of multifamily, low-income housing to string cables and install routers as they build.

Having the hardware in place now, officials said, would make it easier to deliver high-speed Internet access later to housing communities and subsidized apartments. Wireless technology allows computer and portable-device users to access the Internet and e-mail without connecting a cable.

I think that it is safe to say that there is a Digital Divide in this country. It would be hard to argue that there is not. But why are taxpayers being asked to foot the bill for wireless internet in homes where the residents may not be able to afford the computer to use it? The money would be better spent providing wider and more advanced internet terminals at city libraries and city community centers. It would certainly be cheaper.

The proposal is certianly related to O'Malley's gubernatorial campaign, and a way to counter Doug Duncan's more technology friendly image.