Wi-Fi: More important than breathable air?

Wi-Fi is one of the most important innovations of our time and nowadays, we cannot envisage our lives without Wi-Fi. The advent of the smartphone has made Wi-Fi more critical than ever before and it is quite common to see memes on the Internet that joke about how Wi-Fi is more important than oxygen.

In most metropolises, having a home or office without a Wi-Fi connection is nearly unheard of. Most restaurants, cafes, and other establishments often heavily advertise the fact that they offer free Wi-Fi in order to attract customers. Speedy free Wi-Fi seems to be more important to some people than the quality of a restaurant!

People are willing to give up their children for free Wi-Fi!

In June 2013, a Europol-backed experiment administered by Finnish firm F-Secure produced some startling results. The experiment was designed to see how many people would succumb to the ‘Herod Clause’ and other types of IT theft. The researchers set up multiple hotspots in the busiest regions of London for a period of 30 minutes.

For a small period of time during the experiment, a Terms & Conditions document was introduced and users needed to agree to it to get access to the network. It included a Herod Clause which required users to ‘give up their most beloved pet or their firstborn child’ for free access. A total of six people agreed to it.

The results of this study demonstrate how important it is to read the fine print for agreements that are particular enticing for people such as free Wi-Fi. Don’t worry, as none of these people really gave up their pets or their first-born children!

Wi-Fi over friends/sex

According to a study conducted by Intrepid Travel, more than one in five participants would give up sex for a month to have Wi-Fi. One in ten participants said they’d be willing to give up their friends for a month in favor of Wi-Fi.

In the same study, nearly one in three people said that they wouldn’t stay in a hotel that didn’t have Wi-Fi while one in two spend more than an hour searching for a good Wi-Fi connection while they are on a vacation.

Wi-Fi along with other forms of technology have clearly taken over our lives. However, you need to know when to draw the line however hard that may be. In this age, a significant portion of people would benefit from a digital detox of sorts.