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[runningtiger]

I don't surf the internet on my phone the same way I do on my laptop. But, there are some specific sites that I find useful when I'm away from my home computer that are very useable on the small screen. So, being able to jump on an available wifi network would come in handy. It's just a cost issue. I'm already paying for the internet and have a wifi connection at home for instance, and it would be cool to use it for free through my phone rather than paying the GPRS costs - since I don't have a data plan and pay by the kb. It's always a "joy" to get what you want - when you want it - the way you want it. For me, this could mean something as simple as checking a ballgame score from the backyard (or walking across campus) rather than going to the den firing up the laptop etc etc. You get the picture. There's times when accessing a full fledged computer is a pain...or, impossible!

[abatis]

Just to comment on the "Wi-Fi is on the way out" thought: I'm not sure I would agree with that. Wi-Fi is free in many places, and EDVO is not - and that's important to remember. Also, I believe Wi-Fi chips are continuing to gain better efficiency characteristics and thus will require less and less power. Moores Law we all know; but Metcalfe's Law posits that the value of a network grows as the square of the number of users. Perhaps that ratio is a bit to generaous, but I think (despite all its issues) Wi-Fi is becoming a standard -- and free telephony is too appealing to be passed up.

Not to make the Q thread a debate on WiFi, but one reason the Q doesn't need WiFi is you are locked into buying EVDO by Verizon. Verizon needed to keep the Q cost down so they had Motorola leave it out. They also want to keep you captured to their services. My own experience since running on two EVDO carriers (Sprint and Verizon) is I never use WiFi for those devices.

Free WiFi is nice where you can get it, but someone is always paying for the internet bandwidth, so is it ever really free?