WiFi and a pint of Guinness, please

I was absolutely intrigued this weekend to see that our local pub has started to offer ‘Wireless’ to customers …and even more so to learn from the landlord, that there had been much more of an uptake than he’d anticipated. He even reported to have had one or two people coming in during the afternoons specifically to work away on their laptops My immediate thought was to see this as real clash of cultures. Surely all of the rituals and behaviours caught up in the British pub are the antithesis of what the wireless worker is signifying when they open up their PowerBook and start to type away During some on-trade ethnographic research for a drinks brand last year it was very clear that being in the pub is about personal freedom, but also about community and spending time with others. Whereas, the wireless hotspot user at present looks to be much more isolated and in need of being alone… But perhaps with the launch of WiFi mobiles and the smoking ban just around the corner, there won’t be such a clash after all. Accessing a wireless hotspot through your mobile phone puts up far fewer barriers to ‘the community’ than using your laptop ever could. And a smoke free environment, well that just makes it a nicer place to stop and pick up emails or do some work.