While reading the Sunday Times at the weekend, I stumbled upon a new buzzword - Moofers or mobile out of office workers.
A quick search on Google - turned up this blog post from Personnel Today's Work Clinic, which gives a thorough explanation of the term.
People who use technology to make hotel lobbys and coffee shops their mobile office. Of course this has all been enabled by the huge and fast development of free Wi-Fi networks.
And there's a guy at Microsoft that has a great blog all about Moofing.
Without a doubt this trend will only become more common place as technology allows more of us to Moof. However, mobile access sometimes comes at a cost. I am positive that I have surfed free at Caffe Nero previously, so I was disappointed when trying to log on at my local Nero's last weekend to find that you now had to subscribe to "surfnsip".
I'm not sure whether the business model of charging for Wi-Fi will be sustainable as free networks become more commonplace and free wireless access becomes a selling point for a coffee shop, a pub or a hotel.
Let me know if you disagree with this point of view or whether you think that Moofing just won't catch on because most of us prefer a working environment where we can socially interact!!
Comments (2)
As a committed Moofer that likes Cafe Nero can I recommend Skype Zones for $8 per month you can stay logged on at any Surf'nSip WifI PoP as long you like. And don't take notice of the 'it does not work with Mac OS X stuff', anywhere that has peering with Boingo (Zones is a white labelled product) just log on with the Web interface and off you go (choose Boingo and enter username and password). The only downside is Starbucks does not have peering with Boingo although most BT Openzones do. Its a great deal!
Posted by Ian White | December 16, 2007 5:25 PM
Posted on December 16, 2007 17:25
First time I've heard about 'Moofing'. The 'moo' bit reminds me of a cow, making me think about 'herds'! I'll be sure to spread the Moof word during the Festive period. LOL.
Posted by IT Training | December 22, 2007 11:51 AM
Posted on December 22, 2007 11:51