Megan Hayes reports on how we might be eating and surfing in the future

Surfing the Internet or checking email will soon be as simple as sending a text message and as enjoyable as relaxing with a book at the local café. Recent announcements made by global meal-providers promise to put Internet access among the menu options currently available to their consumers, freeing customers from tangled wires and the confines of their home or office.

Marketing directors hard at work in their McDonalds office continue to search for the answer to the company’s falling sales. On March 12, they unveiled its plan to provide high-speed wireless Internet access to customers in Manhattan, Chicago and an un-named city in California. Those who purchase one of the company’s several Extra Value Meals will be able to log on to the Internet for an hour as they enjoy their burger and fries. Unfortunately, the deal rests on the idea that customers would actually like to remain at their table and use their computer after they have finished their meal. Such an assumption seems unreasonable when the idea of ‘fast food’ naturally involves a quick purchase and an even quicker departure.

It is unlikely that plastic tables and hard-backed chairs are likely to entice members of the corporate world to bring their laptops into their local McDonalds to do their work over a hot lunch. If anything, the insides of many such restaurants are a minefield of forgotten fries and ketchup stains.

The measured success of McDonalds’ wireless campaign thus far seems to provide a silent confirmation that more work needs to be done - and the unfilled connection points visual evidence of this. If the public’s use of technology is thought to be changing, so too is its perspective on food. Even the Brits are now joining the American-led health trend and, let’s be honest, a burger and fries is simply not the dieter’s meal of choice. With the business-savvy and the health-conscious dining elsewhere, McDonalds will have to do more than put Internet access in Happy Meals in order to stay afloat.

More likely to succeed are uses of wireless technology that target existing social habits. One of these is the tendency of the British to frequent the pub. Although UK residents have been provided with wireless access at some Starbucks locations, even the lure of comfy chairs and vanilla lattes is likely no competition for Internet connection points located in close proximity to drought ale.

Those with a desire to mix business with pleasure will soon be able to do so in any number of public houses thanks to Inspired Broadcast Networks. The wireless provider, assisted by Ericcson, Intel and in association with various UK pubs, has sponsored a launch in wireless services set to reach three thousand locations within the year. Recently, pubs have proven themselves increasingly popular for business lunches and pub owners and Internet retailers alike hope the new technology will increase profits while customers enjoy the Internet alongside their beverage of choice.

The wireless boom is seen by many as tangible evidence of the changing face of business, one increasingly more technologically capable. However, high start-up costs may deter companies from jumping on the wireless bandwagon, and as prices for access have yet to be fixed, companies must be conscious not to overrun consumer demand. Potentially even more dangerous to the success of the trend are some of the locations themselves. Admittedly, venues such as Starbucks have garnered much praise for the ambience they provide in addition to their products. It seems to have been determined that fast food restaurants are no safe place to bring our thousand dollar laptops, when one clumsy move could leave a soggy pickle sliding between the keys. With an often-boisterous atmosphere and smoke-filled interior, even pubs leave something to be desired for those in search of the ideal place to log on. Before employees begin to wipe up spills or clear away discarded napkins, companies may want to determine if this world-wide wireless expansion is indeed a response to a growing technological appetite, or whether consumers already have a full plate.