I'm what some might consider a "sucker" since I've been using T-mobile since Austin was just a test market. I can afford [not really] to subscribe [as a subscriber to the phone service all you can eat hotspot access is $20/mth]. To me knowing in almost all of the Starbucks in town I can pop in and do some work. Sure there are mom & pop cafes in town where there is free access but they aren't always convenient to where I am.

Charging for WiFi can work but the cost model -- like long distance and cell phone models of old -- won't work. Would all you can eat access for $9.99/mth sell more than $39.99/mth? Damn skippy. Will the extra volume make up for the loss of revenue/unit? Maybe.

Eventually wireless internet access will be fast and available everywhere like cell phone coverage is today. And we pay for cellphones. Remember how expensive that used to be? And remember only "rich" people had cell phones?