'Homeless Hotspots' Offered At SXSW 2012

At this year's South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas, WiFi-deprived attendees were confronted with an interesting fix to their problem: 4G hotspots in the form of homeless people.

Advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty's BBH Labs were the brains behind the in-your-face idea to offer 4G network access through the homeless, who sported "I'm [insert name here], a 4G hotspot" t-shirts as they wandered around SXSW with MiFi devices. Those wanting to connect to the 4G network could pay what they desired to the homeless person offering it, in cash or through a PayPal link on the Homeless Hotspots website.

According to BBH Labs' director of innovation, Saneel Radia, Homeless Hotspots are a modern take on yesterday's "street newspapers," or "print publications created and sold by homeless populations as a form of entrepreneurial employment."

The model is explained further on the Homeless Hotspots website:

As digital media proliferates, these newspapers face increased pressure. Our hope is to create a modern version of this successful model, offering homeless individuals an opportunity to sell a digital service instead of a material commodity.

The site also features bios for the homeless people participating in the project, all of whom are in the case management program at Front Steps Shelter; links to their PayPal accounts for payment; and their locations around the SXSW conference.

As might be expected, the "charitable experiment," as BBH Labs calls it, has caused quite a stir on Twitter and across the web.

io9 pointed out the Twitter reaction of Wired's Tim Carmody, who continued his strong thoughts in a skeptical March 12 post on Wired.com:

@kissane @dansinker It's such a typical dumbass tech-co move: the problem with homelessness is nobody's making any money off of it.

— Tim Carmody (@tcarmody) March 12, 2012

And the New York Times' David Gallagher commented, "It is a neat idea on a practical level, but also a little dystopian. When the infrastructure fails us...we turn human beings into infrastructure?"

But while Carmody, Gallagher, and others have questioned the implications of such a project, Radia defended Homeless Hotspots to ReadWriteWeb's Jon Mitchell. He explained, "Somehow, our intent has been lost in here....What we're trying to do is say the street newspaper model works. It's the output of it that...We fear for its future, and there's no one working on solving this problem."

Front Steps spokesperson Mitchell Gibbs further defended Homeless Hotspots and the potential opportunities it could afford homeless individuals, telling BuzzFeed, "I think the fit [with Front Steps] is in the empowerment, the education, and encouragement of the client to earn an income while saving the majority of those earnings with a goal of moving to safe and stable housing."

Check out the video below (featured on Techli) of Clarence, a homeless man and participant in the project. Then, let us know: What do you think about the Homeless Hotspot idea?

Comments

[brokenleoheart]

05:08 PM on 03/13/2012

the only problem i would have is, if i paid, then the homeless guy got up and left, i can't chase him down. it should be free for people to use, and have the companies to sponsor. so whatever company you use or something, you get the perk.

[snarkyhaiku]

09:56 AM on 03/13/2012

SXSW used
homeless as wireless towers.
Can you hear me now?

Twitter/snarkyhaiku

[-swift]

09:29 AM on 03/13/2012

Interesting to see how people break this down into the usual right and left dogma, but end up going off their sides' usual messages.

Often I hear the cry of "Why don't they just get jobs?" from conservative circles. Well, here are some homeless people who now have jobs. Yet a lot of conservatives are blasting this. They're actually blasting an alleged "liberal" agenda.

I think the name might be somewhat insensitive, but I'm not sure why. I think it might be the alliteration. Makes it sound sort of jaunty and careless.

But I think it's a good idea. You are giving a homeless person a job. You're giving them an income. And you are making the public interact with a segment of the population that is usually invisible.

[Rich Phitzwell]

09:27 AM on 03/13/2012

Change homeless person to coed and it eould suddenly become ok. I think this is great, an easy way for the person to make some cash and makes some hipsters uncomfy at the same time!

[John Goucho]

09:16 AM on 03/13/2012

What is wrong with providing an incentive to people give to the homeless? It is the limousine liberal who rejects the idea because it makes them uncomfortable but would rather simply ignore the homeless because that is more comfortable.

[waldopepper]

03:42 AM on 03/13/2012

I can imagine that we all have stepped over someone, or not even seen them in the first place to have stepped over them. This seems to me to be an effort to make that, if not impossible, then less likely. So their heart seems to be in the right place.

I remember a Bansky quote that seems to apply. "I don't think I have ever fully recovered from seeing a dog wearing a diamond studded collar hop over a homeless man."

[T Pol]

11:19 PM on 03/14/2012

Boy, that quote hits home hard unless you are heartless.

[beauwulff]

12:55 AM on 03/13/2012

The original plan was to use them for footstools.

[Le Nwwaert]

12:01 AM on 03/13/2012

Disgusting typical liberal behaviour

[-swift]

09:22 AM on 03/13/2012

Yet conservatives will shout "Get a job!" at a homeless person. The liberals are actually giving the homeless jobs. What's disgusting about giving a person a job?

[POpgrssve]

10:57 PM on 03/12/2012

Calling it Homeless Hotspots is just depraved and despicable. This country is just off the rails callous.

[beauwulff]

12:53 AM on 03/13/2012

British company.

[clintnapril2]

09:29 PM on 03/12/2012

I am waiting to hear about how having all these radio waves causes cancer, and the homeless can't afford a lawyer. Wait for it.........

[909]

09:13 PM on 03/12/2012

Feed the homeless to the hungry. Problems solved.

[Ppenguinator]

05:15 PM on 03/12/2012

It's a good idea, as long as they're payed a decent amount.

[hpblue5011]

08:25 PM on 03/12/2012

Just like taxes? Taxes should always be higher... How higher you ask? Doesn't matter, they should always be higher.

[Ari B Canaan]

11:51 PM on 03/12/2012

eh?

[-swift]

09:23 AM on 03/13/2012

Not just like taxes. Not at all.

[aDelphinium]

10:21 AM on 03/13/2012

Decent amount? They were paid twenty bucks a day. Would YOU work for twenty bucks a day? I call that exploitation.

[Ppenguinator]

06:58 PM on 03/13/2012

I didn't see where it said the amount they were payed, No, $20 probably isn't enough.

[Prousa]

05:10 PM on 03/12/2012

I don't see what's wrong with giving someone an opportunity to earn a few bucks by providing a perfectly legit service.

They aren't being forced to do this, are they?

[hpblue5011]

08:27 PM on 03/12/2012

Have you been forced to sleep outside and be hungry lately?

[Cameony]

09:19 PM on 03/12/2012

Apparently you missed the whole "Hobo being paid to act as a hotspot" or the part where your comment had nothing to do with anything. It might serve you well to read before saying things.

[clintnapril2]

09:24 PM on 03/12/2012

Most people aren't forced to do anything. I know. I got tired of sleeping in the laundry room of an apartment complex, and did something about it. I thank the Salvation Army for the clothes and help they gave me. Some people get used to the lifestyle of being an "Urban Camper". ALOT are addicts, so they chose their plight. A few have serious mental problems, and just don't know any better. I have been employed for 13 years now, put myself through trade school, own a nice house, and am married with a 9 year old son. People aren't "FORCED " to do anything they don't want to do.
" Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they will be yours".

[Aron J Doughty]

04:44 PM on 03/12/2012

I kinda think Wifi should be free everywhere. Seems unfair that poor people don't have access to the internet. That being said...a donation system via homeless people seems like a good idea. Can I put my dollar bills in the form of a paper airplane tho and throw them at him from afar?

[clintnapril2]

09:26 PM on 03/12/2012

I have yet to see a "poor" person without internet access. The homeless also have access at any public library.

[Aron J Doughty]

09:52 PM on 03/12/2012

I was referring to poor people not homeless people not having access to internet access at an affordable price. Yes you can go to the library and go online...but only in 20 minute increments...and if you are too poor to afford the gas to get to the library,...well good luck! I guess I was addressing 2 different issues. Homelessness...and internet access for the poor (which doesn't necessarily mean homeless...)

[-swift]

09:31 AM on 03/13/2012

"I have yet to see a 'poor' person without internet access."

Mitt, is that you?

[independentvoter007]

03:28 PM on 03/12/2012

Horrifying? Dehumanizing? Uhh yeah because sleeping in the corner of the subway in a puddle of your own piss while people walk by your holding their noses making gross faces was a lot better. That was really empowering. Seriously ask Clarence up there how humanzied he felt pooping in his hat on the train platform. Bet it was almost as great as getting free clothes, a job, and a chance to earn money through PayPal donations. I mean there are 2 major complaints in every major city. 1) Homeless people should just get jobs. 2) Not enough service. This marketing firm just strapped some routers to the homeless and gave them a job selling a product in exchange for payment. BBH literally just solved the biggest problems in New York. Seriously am I missing something here? Best idea ever.