At a Loss for Words
A lot has been said about SXSW, calling it both one of the coolest gatherings of creative folks and one of the most loathsome. As I’ve never attended, I really have no idea what to say about the conference. Similarly, I have no idea what to make of the Homeless Hotspots that you’ve surely seen trending around the web. Launched as an idea to turn homeless Austin residents into “MiFi managers” who can charge conference attendees for access to the wireless internet they carry on their persons, the entire program has drawn a bit of breathless befuddlement, anger and (far less so) support from the internet at large.
Wired has the (“damning” – so we know where they fall) backstory if you’d like to know something/more about what this is all about.
Plastering homeless people with t-shirts that essentially turn their names into the completely forgettable monikers of your neighbors’ WiFi base stations? Really dehumanizing. Giving homeless people and conference attendees reason to interact when they’d otherwise ignore one another? Admirable. Leaving the MiFi managers to their own devices after this effort has ended? Smacks of stunt. Way to keep this going? Possibly…maybe.