San Francisco One-Ups Redmond

The citywide Wi-Fi meme catapulted to another level yesterday when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom boldly announced that,

"We will not stop until every San Franciscan has access to free wireless Internet service," he said in his annual state of the city address. "These technologies will connect our residents to the skills and the jobs of the new economy." [Reuters by way of...geez, quite a few emails and blog posts have been flying my way this AM.]

The timing of this announcement is interesting.

Politcians across North America (and probably Europe and Asia as well) are fumbling for their political calculators about now. How much will it cost me? Surprisingly little. What will be the payback? Quick! Somebody conduct a scientific poll to determine what us voters think of cheap, high speed Internet service (and throw in ala carte cable, will ya?).

Would you be more or less willing to vote for a mayor or city councilmember who supports the provision of high speed, ubiquitous, wireless Internet connectivity for a cost of pennies on the dollar to your current service?