Culture
LinkNYC Pulls Web Access From Its Wi-Fi Kiosks
The company is removing web browsing from its public tablets because users have become way too comfortable.
The swanky new kiosks from LinkNYC were touted as the future of payphones, with high-speed wi-fi capabilities that would help Mayor Bill de Blasio realize his vision to give every New York City resident and business free broadband access by 2025. The company rolled out roughly 400 kiosks to skeptical New Yorkers after announcing its plan in 2014, and even sent out a squad of “wi-fi ambassadors” to show passersby how they work.
A little over a month later, the company has announced that it is removing web browsing from all the tablets attached to the kiosks because people are hogging them, sometimes even pulling up chairs. This comes after reports surfaced of people “inappropriately” using the public kiosks to watch porn.