Steve Jobs "very interested" in Wi-Fi sharing
Martin Varsavsky, founder of the Spanish Wi-Fi sharing company Fon, has made a video of his impressions of meeting with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. But who cares? You've heard it all before. The Apple campus is at One Infinite Loop. The decor is monochromatic. Jobs asks lots of questions, is "not the nicest guy," and wants you to know how wonderful Apple products are. What is interesting, however, is how this hapless wantrepreneur even got a meeting with Jobs in the first place.
Varsavsky's Apple tour suggests that the iPhone maker is interested in hooking up with Fon's network of users who share their home Wi-Fi networks. While some ISPs, mostly in Europe, have embraced Fon's business model — after all, you need a broadband connection in the first place in order to then share it with others — many still forbid the service. Among them, of course, is AT&T, Apple's cell-phone partner in the U.S. Could Jobs be preparing to bypass Ma Bell using the iPhone's built-in Wi-Fi and a partnership with Fon? Who knows. But I'll be keeping an eye on Varsavsky and Fon from now on — especially any trips back to Cupertino.