Give a man a Mifi and you pay him for a day. Teach a man to program and you pay him for a lifetime. Figure it out, #HomelessHotspots.
This has to be a (very crass) joke?! RT @Cekent Turning homeless into WiFi hotspots. Sadly not Swiftian parody: http://t.co/zleXXw6U
#HomelessHotspots? Being new to PDX, this has been on my mind, but that idea seems kinda demeaning, to be frank. #StandHereSoICanTweet
Homeless Hotspots idea at SXSW draws mega-criticism
3/12/2012It has been referred to as "digital panhandling" and a "Swiftian parody" and there's something about it that sounds like an SNL Digital Short starring a deadpan Andy Samberg. The Homeless Hotspot program at SXSW was intended to encourage attendees to engage and interact with their "homeless friends," but it "started backfiring immediately," as Buzzfeed put it. Sending ten homeless men onto the Austin streets with a Mifi device, a Paypal account, and a demeaning screenprint across their chests ("Hi, I'm ____, a 4G Hotspot) was a "charitable innovation experiment" designed by BBH NY, the same people who gave the world the Axe "Clean Your Balls" campaign.
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Is this a good idea or charity gone (way) wrong? #NOWHomelesshotspots
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