College students would give up beer before Wi-Fi?

Here’s a quick question: would you give up beer before Wi-Fi? According to a new study by the Wi-Fi Alliance, 48 percent of the 501 college students polled would. That wasn’t the only question asked, though to some it can be interesting what college students prefer over beer. Of the students polled, over half admitted to using MySpace, Facebook and/or email during class. That’s not really all that surprising, a lot of college students flood computer labs during free time to check Facebook/MySpace, so why wouldn’t they during class if it’s available?
The main focus of the study, however, seems to be if Wi-Fi helps in college at all. In the study, 79 percent of students “said that without Wi-Fi access, college would be a lot harder.” Again, not surprising. Later, it mentions students getting a head start on assignments on their laptops before class ends, or quickly researching some small detail in order to appear smarter. Another not-so-surprising finding, but an important fact is that more incoming students and their parents are looking at technology when choosing colleges, with 60 percent saying that “widely available Wi-Fi on campus is an indication that a school cares about its students.”
As a college student, I would agree that Wi-Fi is definitely useful while in class, or around campus in general. I would give up the beer I don’t drink to have more Wi-Fi, or faster speeds, though that’s just based on the college I am attending. I can’t say I’ve visited MySpace or Facebook more than once or twice in classes, but I have been known to read and respond to Editor Iyaz’s e-mails during or just before class.
Not having Wi-Fi on a college campus would be very strange, and also quite boring. Internet can be quite a savior when stuck in a boring lecture class. Although, the main point of having a laptop on campus is to take notes in class, so Wi-Fi isn’t really needed. I know I would hate to be in a school without Wi-Fi; I would have to carry around an Ethernet cable along with my laptop to combat the lack of Wi-Fi.
Read [PR Newswire]
Photo by Andy Davidson found via [Flickr] under a Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
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