News

A Visionary Seeking to Connect the World, Wirelessly. Marshall Brown

GEEKSTER-HOOD is powerful. And visionary. And necessary. At least it is in the worldview of Marshall Brown, the Internet impresario who is making good on a personal vision this summer by staking New Yorkers — and city visitors prescient enough to pack laptops or other paraphernalia critical to mobile connectivity — to free wireless Web access at 18 locales in 10 city parks. Hard to imagine how we ever dallied in those parks without him and Wi-Fi Salon.

Mr. Brown, sharing his tale of start-up ingenuity while sitting on a bench in the art gallery of the landmark Arsenal in Central Park at East 54th Street, sure can’t. “Probably a million people come to Central Park on a sunny summer day, and if even 1 percent of them come with wireless-capable devices, that’s a thousand people who can be connecting with our service,” he fantasizes, fidgeting with his wedding band as he speaks. If Mr. Brown seems a tad nervous, and he does, perhaps it stems from having switched off both of his cellular phones for politeness’s sake. To a gadget addict of his caliber, being out of the digital loop must be akin to finding himself in public without his clothes on.

By ROBIN FINN

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/nyregion/14lives.html?_r=1&oref=login

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.