John Webword Rhodes on how commercial WIFI provision through payphones could complement or compete with Clay’s vision of DIYfi or DIYfratstructure.

” So I think we are seeing the end of Warchalking, but we are seeing the beginnings of a very strong wireless network. The internet will be everywhere, all the time, available to all devices. And you won’t need to look for quaint Warchalking markings. Instead, you’ll walk into Starbucks or Wallmart or Barnes and Noble, or you’ll be walking through your neighborhood, or perhaps some place near a payphone. You’ll have the web around you, all of the time. At home, at the office. Everywhere. It’ll be like air or water. Wi-Fi will just be there. At some point, you won’t have to worry about where you are. Wi-Fi or some other related wireless network will provide you with an internet blanket, and you’ll always feel warm and cozy. No Warchalking required.

Please don’t mourn the loss of Warchalking. It made plenty of people drool and it helped people start really thinking about Wi-Fi in all places. It helped people think about how to expand and extend the internet. To make it more like a utility, always on and available. With all this said, I’m actually excited about the death of Warchalking.”
[My emboldening]

If indeed warchalking‘s dead… then that’s the best epitaph I could hope for.

» Webword: How Warchalking Died
[Via Anil Dash]