Head Tale

A pretty major announcement today from the Sask Government that by May, they will begin providing free wireless in the downtowns of our four largest cities – Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert – as well as at some of our post-secondary institutions (which is probably a bit redundant since the Universities probably already have blanket wifi.  But then again, it will be handy for visitors and others without an official log-in ID for those networks.  I could see myself going out to U of R and hanging out at the library on a weekend to work on projects for instance, just because I like that atmosphere when I have work to do.)

Hopefully, they don't screw it up like Toronto did by requiring a cell phone number to access the network and that it has a good strong, steady signal.  And speaking of T.Dot, where does this put Saskatchewan in terms of cities offering free WiFi in their downtown cores?  Toronto, Calgary (limited), Fredericton, Kamloops are a few cities exploring the free option too apparently.  (This article is also where I got that great quote about people doubting the value of sidewalks that is the title of this post.  I've made a similar analogy to the information highway being like regular highways and something our government should provide for free, nationwide.  Will that come to pass eventually?  I hope so!) 

Our province's official opposition, the Sask Party live up to their position by opposing anything that's positive for the province, just because they think that's their job.  (It was fun watching them jump through hoops trying to oppose the new Family Day holiday while also saying it was a good thing for families.)  Their opposition to this initiative is that, according to them, it's more about improving the province's image but won't work in reality. 

Well, image is important too and this will help continue the influx of people from other provinces that's been happening lately – we will now offer something cool and cutting edge to our businesses and citizens that very few other jurisdictions do – one more reason to come to Saskatchewan!  (I've even grown to like the exclamation point our government paid one million dollars for!)  Will it work perfectly or as well as subscription Internet?  Probably not…at least at first.  But it's a good start.