Park Slope: The Next Tricked Out Wi-Fi Neighborhood?

 

Dumbo recently became the first free, full up Wi-Fi neighborhood in BK, and now it seems that the Slope is vying to be #2. Looks like the news of upcoming free wi-fi in Prospect Park just wasn't enough to keep us all happy. We gotta' have it EVERYWHERE. 

The details, via Romio:

Park Slope residents want to be able to open their laptops anywhere and share pictures with a friend, laugh at a video on YouTube, or shoot a quick email. Connecting with the neighborhood is what Romio is all about, which is why we have started a grassroots web campaign to work with neighbors to bring free public WiFi to Park Slope. Joining the WiFi campaign is simple: sign up for a free account on Romio.com and join Park Slope’s conversation thread about WiFi. We’ll be updating the mayor’s office, local non-profit organizations, city council members and real estate firms daily with your questions, concerns and feedback.

I’ll shamefully admit that I just spent 20 minutes trying to figure out what the hell Wi-Fi stands for. FUN FACT: it stands for NOTHING (though my bets were on Wireless Finternet or Wireless Fucking Internet). 

At first thought, it WOULD be amazeballs to have FREE interwebs accessible everywhere in the hood. For those of you who work from home, imagine sitting around Prospect Park or any stoop on a crisp Fall day with laptop and Tea Lounge hot chocolate in hand (cue jealousy and stink eye).

But is there a downside? I mean, do we really NEED to watch full screen-sized YouTube videos of people falling on treadmills while strolling down 7th ave? No, probably not. 

I worry about the local businesses whose customers frequent their coffee shops/restaurants/bars BECAUSE they have free Wi-Fi.  Think our local hotspots would suffer? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to cease throwing some bows at Gorilla to get the table near the electrical outlet, but we want to keep our Brooklyn-y spots open and thriving.

Other than that, I can’t really see a problem with it. 

Thoughts? Good, Bad, Indifferent? Dumbo readers, have any insights?