Greg's Corner

NYC to revise position on web kiosks

New York City’s free web kiosks are a great idea, in theory. Instead they’ve become the textbook definition of ‘the best laid plans’. The kiosks, first introduced to the Big Apple in February, were installed in the places of old phone booths, have 911 and 311 capabilities, can be used as a free wi-fi hotspot, and have web enabled touch screens. As is with most free gifts given to the public, the kiosks were abused.

The kiosks have led to people camping out at the kiosks all hours of the day, which has led to drugs, noise complaints and other nuisances that have concerned business owners and residents. While the kiosk touchscreens had filters to prevent from explicit sites from being displayed, it didn’t take long for some users to circumvent the filters. This led to explicit content being shown on the kiosks at all times of the day to any passer-by.

Because of these abuses the city is disabling the touchscreens’ web access. While offering free web access to natives and tourists is a fantastic idea, but as with most great ideas the city leaders didn’t consider one thing, people are the greatest variable in any equation. Or as to put it in internet terms, ‘this is why we can’t have nice things.’