A souvenir store on Unter den Linden in Berlin offers 15 minutes of “free” internet usage. To log in, you go to the counter, get an entry code, and are free to use a PC. Moreover, you can use the code to get 10% off the purchase price of any souvenir in the shop. But unlike some “free” deals that come with tie-in purchases, this is a voluntary tie-in: you don’t have to purchase anything. Since nearby internet shops charge for usage, this seems like a very good deal if you just want to do a quick email check. Although I felt a bit guilty about not buying any of the shop’s tchotchkes, I was happy to use the internet for free and walk out. Why don’t more people go here to use the web? Do they have even greater guilt feelings than I and don’t want to pay the price of the cheesy souvenirs? Are they ignorant of the good deal?
Would You Like a Tchotchke With Your Internet?
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. You can also watch it on 
Metrix Create:Space of Seattle offers free wireless internet; they also sell HoboTokens so that people who stop in to use the internet can buy one and feel like they’re not freeloading. Here’s a writeup:
http://metrixcreatespace.com/post/331559588/introducing-the-hobo-token-a-goodwill-currency
I feel guilty using the washroom in a business without buying something. I just buy gum or pop or something small like that. Except in a grocery store, there’s no shame there
the guilt is socially hardwired- ur freeloading
How big are the signs advertising this? When was the last time you read the signs in any souvenir shops near where you live? I’m pretty sure I never do…..
I once bought a chocolate bar solely in order to get change for an automated train token machine (before we had a ticket machine that accepted credit cards). The woman on the till said “Oh, you didn’t need to do that!”
Many thanks for adding the quotation marks to “free” and, yes,
ignorance abounds; you see, I live in Austin, Texas.
A few years back, I was coincidentally in Berlin with some friends and we needed directions, so we walked into a candy store to ask for help. I felt guilty afterwards, so I bought some chocolate rum balls, or something. They were delicious.
I can’t imagine just 15 minutes being worth the transaction cost in going to the store. Some Internet usage is fungible, like checking email. However, I do not believe that the internet cafe user can easily break their usage into 15 minute segments. If the free Internet were a closer substitute, then I would expect a higher freeloader usage, even though this would likely be more guilt-worthy. Most people view the Internet as having a low marginal cost, so I doubt that they feel that they are harming the business owner.
Ian – I do this fairly frequently, since I don’t keep cash on me from day to day. Not only do I not pay the fee on an ATM, which has never been cheaper than a candy bar, I get some chocolate! Who can say no to that
Unless there’s a big sign in the window, most people probably wouldn’t know about the free internet. Even if they did, a lot of people are probably either coming from a place or going to a place where they (could have) checked their e-mail, so stopping in is probably more of a hassle than it’s worth.