Microsoft has started to podcast.

The other day I was sitting in an Internet cafe using a standard PC to check my email etc. At the top of the screen was a meter that showed me how long I had been using the PC and how much I owed at that point. In other words, if you use half an hour, you pay for half an hour etc. However, when you want to use a wireless connection, for example, here in Starbucks, you have to pay for a fixed block of time up front and you get charged at a fixed rate whether you use all the time or not. I tried a different location and found the same thing. If I think about it, it’s the same in Starbucks in London too. Why don’t they offer metered wireless Internet just like in a standard Internet cafe? Maybe more people would start accessing the Internet in places such as Starbucks if they only get charged for what they actually use. In Starbucks, here in Madrid, the minimum amount of time you can purchase is two hours. It doesn’t normally take me two hours to read my email! In other locations you have to purchase a minimum of one hour, but still. If I only want to check my email I am going to think twice before forking out money for something I am not going to use.