So, they got jobs?
Some homeless people were given jobs. Their jobs were to walk around with 4G devices, making them mobile hotspots. Apparently, paying people to do a job is offensive to some people. A paying job is, apparently, “shameful, patronizing, and de-humanizing”.
March 14th, 2012 at 10:40 am
A more offensive part of the “job” is that it could have been done by deploying the devices – without the people.
A piece of duct tape and an electrical outlet, your mobile wifi hotspot is in place permanently!
So sure, some people can be all butthurt about human dignity – how about being more upset about makework welfare BS?
March 14th, 2012 at 10:55 am
And no one proofread that story either.
March 14th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Actually, now that I’ve thought about it, this was simply a bit of a payoff to Austin’s large, loud, well-organized and permanent homelessness lobby.
Which is one of 1000 things about Austin that made me decide to live not in Austin, but in a suburb city. Oddly enough, nobody sleeps under the overpasses here and there are no beggars at traffic intersections. Something about my town having a very different attitude toward grifters than Austin.
Eff ’em even harder.
March 14th, 2012 at 11:17 am
I disagree mikeee. There was a clear marketing and publicity angle employeed here for the ISP (I don’t know if they are “technically” an ISP. But for purposes of this comment that’s what I’m calling them. It says a lot about the dysfunction of some on the Internet that I need to even include this disclaimer). Simply sticking wifi terminals around the festival doesn’t get then the walking advertisements. In one sense, this isn’t much different than a mattress store paying someone to stand on a busy highway in a chicken outfit. Or the kind of dumb marketing ploys university marketing departments (or Trump on the apprentice) routinely employee at college campuses and other places large crowds gather.
I tend to think this is great. The ISP got their name out. And the service out. And sold the service. Try hired a willing and motivated workforce. And that workforce learned a valuable job skill – creative marketing – that if they were ambitious they could use to turn into a sales job or a marketing company of their own.
Now, the downside, of course is someone is trying to tarnish the ISPs name. Typical. Maybe it’s cause I’m in DC, but I wouldn’t be surprised if 1) this feigned controversy was started by one of their competitors who are jealous of their success or 2) started by the ISPs PR / marketing firm as a way to capitalize on the success and make their name and mobile hotspot service known to a nationwide audience.
March 14th, 2012 at 11:24 am
I don’t see the harm. If people were paid to do it they were hardly exploited in this case.
March 14th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
They could have stood on a corner waving and twirling giant arrows pointing to where the Hot-Spot was so that folks could walk or drive there. 🙂
March 14th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
a bi-line out of New York about a story that took place wholly in Texas.
Man, those journalists sure “work” hard.
March 14th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Are those documented workers?
What part of Austin doesn’t already have five bars?
March 14th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
new internet game: Hobo With A Hotspot!