One Small Step for the Car, One Giant Leap for Mankind

I was hoping this would happen soon. A company is offering a wireless WiFi service that can operate from vehicles on 95% of American roads. http://tinyurl.com/yex3yy
The link goes to an online story at businessweek.com. this is really neat news. My travel pal, R, and I have often longed for internet access while on on a road trip, to look up info on places to stay, interesting sites coming up on the trail, etc. Soon the permanent linkage will be effective!

Wired magazine online has a similar inspiring story, about a 700 square mile hot spot centered around Hermiston, Oregon, in the high desert in eastern Oregon. The article mentions that the area is so sparsely populated that there were no political objections to the establishment of the WiFi system, which was set up by Fred Ziari, an immigrant from a small Iranian town on the Caspian Sea. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,69234-0.html

Ziari notes that the WiFi service is free to the individual user, but that it is supported by money paid by businesses and government agencies which need the wireless access. The same could be done in any city, but obstruction from existing ISPs and cell phone companies prevents it in most places.