Starbucks Ditches T-Mobile for AT&T

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9868964-1.html

All I can say is, it's about time. Not about the change in providers, but for the change in service to customers. Now customers will have the first 2 hours of internet service free. It's not the best deal in town for me, as almost all the local mom and pop-type coffee shops (and everyone else in the world) have unlimited free internet access, but it's a step in the right direction. Personally, I won't be spending more than 2 hours a day in a coffee shop, so the limit doesn't matter much. I guess it'll make way for iPhone related things like ordering from your phone and music browsing.

Now if they could only get their coffee to taste better . . . ;P

Great news for iPhone owners everywhere!

I used to chill at Panara when I had my MacBook because I didn't have internet at my apartment. I don't think they have a time limit. I got away without buying anything too. I would just walk in and hide in the corner.

Two hours is plenty though.

Meanwhile, every other coffee shop/restaurant out there offers free, unlimited AirPort connectivity.

Starbucks, AT&T, and T-Mobile can all go stick their heads in a pig.

Never liked Starbucks anyway, but now I have even less reason to like them.

I got an email from AT&T telling me I can go into any Starbucks and use their WiFi for free as an AT&T DSL customer. Too bad I really don't visit Starbucks all that often and pay their high prices!

I *do* go to Starbucks regularly - I count their lattes among my favorite indulgences. So, add free WiFi at Starbucks to the free WiFi and Dunkin' Donut (donuts are another favorite indulgence, and since I can't find a Tim Hortons here in Dallas, Dunkin' is next up!) and I am quite happy. This will work out well!

Derek McNelly said:

Never liked Starbucks anyway, but now I have even less reason to like them.

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Did you read anything other than the title? I can understand not liking AT&T, but getting free internet is better for everyone no matter what the service provider it.

fleurya said:

Did you read anything other than the title? I can understand not liking AT&T, but getting free internet is better for everyone no matter what the service provider it.

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Welll, I read the part about it still costing money...

Upon further reading, that is actually a pretty cool deal. I just have some gripes with AT&T that made me cringe upon reading about the switch.

(Like wanting $400 for me to sign up for their phone service and then pay another $100 a month for service. Got the same service plan plus some perks with T-Mobile for $70 a month, without the $400 deposit. No complaints about T-Mobile coverage either.)

i love starbucks. everyone hates because it is mass market and some say expensive. if you drink regular coffee, it is not bad. it tastes way better than what you get anywhere else.

as for the wifi thing, being stationed on a ship that is gone all of the time, it is nice to know that where ever we go, where there is a starbucks, there will be internet. (probably not in peru or PR)

technologist said:

Meanwhile, every other coffee shop/restaurant out there offers free, unlimited AirPort connectivity.

Starbucks, AT&T, and T-Mobile can all go stick their heads in a pig.

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I agree with you tech. Almost everywhere else has free wifi and better atmosphere than Starbucks. While I may stop in to grab coffee, Stabucks has never been a place I want to spend any time.

I'll go support one of my local coffee shops with the free wifi and often better coffee.

dtravis7 said:

I got an email from AT&T telling me I can go into any Starbucks and use their WiFi for free as an AT&T DSL customer. Too bad I really don't visit Starbucks all that often and pay their high prices!

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On the rare occasions that I do into a Starbucks (last Saturday night was one of them), I don't find their prices particularly high compared to the local shops that I prefer.

Personally I prefer to roast, grind and brew my own, but it's not alway practical to do so.

I am sure glad I don't have that coffee Jones.

In NYC Starbucks simply floods the market as there is one on every corner. I can't see why that can't provide free internet to its customers. Most of the shops are small, as most people get coffee to go.
Anyways, as a AT&T customer, do I get the internet for free?

Derek McNelly said:

Never liked Starbucks anyway, but now I have even less reason to like them.

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Your sense is not making me to.

;D

powermacj7 said:

In NYC Starbucks simply floods the market as there is one on every corner. I can't see why that can't provide free internet to its customers. Most of the shops are small, as most people get coffee to go.
Anyways, as a AT&T customer, do I get the internet for free?

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I think it was Lewis Black that had a routine with Starbucks. He said something along the lines of it being a paradise for suffers of alzhiemers. They would spend all day in a Starbucks, leave, and miraculously find one across the street. "Hey everyone! It's a Starbucks, let's go!"

powermacj7 said:

Anyways, as a AT&T customer, do I get the internet for free?

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Only broadband customers, not mobile phone customers.

Village Idiot said:

I think it was Lewis Black that had a routine with Starbucks. He said something along the lines of it being a paradise for suffers of alzhiemers. They would spend all day in a Starbucks, leave, and miraculously find one across the street. "Hey everyone! It's a Starbucks, let's go!"

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LOL! Yeah, I heard that. He has a real chip in his should about Starbucks. In an earlier act, he said he found the end of the world when he saw a Starbucks right across the street from another Starbucks.

So the free WiFi isn't really so free or open as it first sounds...

Of course, Starbucks’ hopes free Wi-Fi will convince coffee drinkers to not only opt for Starbucks but also to stick around longer and buy more lattes. To log onto the company’s new Internet service, customers will need to have an active Starbucks card.

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That's kind of crappy. So I have to buy a stupid Starbucks gift card to be able to use the Internet?

http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/02/12/is-the-end-of-paying-for-wi-fi-near/

^^ yikes! I didn't see that.

Just when you thought they were doing something right.