I know there is a lot of negativity around big companies like Google doing "free" things like this. There is even mis-trust over a sense of unease at the notion of "there is no such thing as a free lunch."<p>These feelings are totally valid, and they unfortunately can prevent the rest of the community from acquiring a valuable resource. Free wifi in San Francisco (One of the techiest cities in the world) feels like a "no-brainer." Free wifi represents the values I would like to see more of in the world, namely cooperation, altruism and generally an increase in non-monetary exchanges.<p>As for the rest of the negatives, the kind of data Google might collect is statistically useless - the sample bias is just too strong. And since I have worked at Google, I know that many many Googlers feel VERY STRONGLY about not doing creepy/immoral things like that. You may feel differently, and that's ok, and I suggest attempting to meet and talk to more Googlers.<p>Finally, there has been much criticism about Google "not giving back" to the community. First, as an employer, Google pays their employees well, and all the taxes associated with that (see articles about SF's budget to a record high due to tech employment, and the boost of social services as a result). Secondly, Google buses, while derided, create a calmer, more peaceful city population, and massively reduce the # of cars on the road. And lastly by pushing forward projects like this (and I'm sure that SF city is preventing things like capture portal ads or whatever) I feel this improves the city.