Homeless Men as Hotspots Stirs Debate at SXSW Tech Festival

I feel bad for laughing at this, but its funny and sad at the same time…

The message is “I have a service, you can purchase it”.  Unless there is some coercion involved of these homeless people by the company, why is there any controversy, especially since the project was created to call attention to the local homeless situation? 
Since I think the project of roaming hotspots is ingenious, I applaud the company for employing homeless as long as their altruistic goals were sincere.  If it’s successful, the hourly total is comparable to minimum wage.

Homeless Hotspots is creative and productive ... providing an important service and opportunity for all involved!

This is a business that the homeless can do. They provide a service that others need. Find a niche and fill it and hopefully people who are better off will give them more than is asked for.

I think this concept is a great idea & it also puts a few dollars into the less fortunate. However $2.00 REALLY? Companies make a lot more money than that, they could have at least said here is $20.00 for doing this to each one of these people. Bring this awareness to other states & offer better incentives like a gift card for subway or walmart.

I think this concept is a great idea & it also puts a few dollars into the less fortunate. However $2.00 REALLY? Companies make a lot more money than that, they could have at least said here is $20.00 for doing this to each one of these people. Bring this awareness to other states & offer better incentives like a gift card for subway or walmart.

There was a segment on NPR’s “Marketplace” program the other night on this, and it did address the squeamish factor: people of means buying something from people with no means.

But isn’t that what our workplace economy is all about?  We all, in one way or another, sell our time & our skills to people (companies) with means.

And so it seems to me that this kind of innovative response to an unresolved and growing social issue is to be applauded and encouraged.

How many more tech-savvy people might be inspired to innovate some other homeless-employing project, as a result of an interaction with Homeless Hotspots? 

Perhaps one of them will dream up a way to continue to employ these people—who are now no longer “invisible”—after the tech conference ends?

I can kind of see both sides - but my gut tells me that making some money legitimately and possibly getting at least some people to wake up and think about homelessness is the stronger idea.  I do agree with several other comments - only $2?  Please!  If you are nerdy enough to carry that kind of stuff with you everywhere, you probably have $5, $10 or $20 to spare to save a life.

Interesting that no one is saying anything about the health effects on the person “wearing” the “device.” They must be pumping out massive amounts of broadband EMF radiation, and I can only imagine this would be way beyond illegal to do to a person in many countries in Europe. But in the USA we haven’t acknowledged the potential dangers of EMF exposure—thanks to plenty of greedy industry pressure on the greedy Congress.

When very poor people become just a way for the rich to make more money, I think we will have hit bottom as a society. This may take us one step closer.

I had to laugh at Occupy when almost everybody pulled hundreds of dollars of electronics out of their pockets while occupying. I’m old school where we just went and made our point with our mouths and our feet.

Having a husband who has talked with several homeless men, I have a different viewpoint i suppose. It COULD help those who need that extra boost to get a job, however a large portion of homless, well, like to be homeless. they don’t want jobs and are happy with being accountable to no one. I know many men who would just use the cash for alcohol or drugs, not neccicarily what us middle-class-ers would do. some homeless situations are unfortunate, and some are intentional. But doing this hotspot deal at least has the potential to make for less begging.

While it is good that a few people have the opportunity to tell their important stories and earn a litte money, it seems pointless unless it combined with the opportunity for those who see the “homeless hotspots” to donate to local agencies who provide services toward self sufficiency.

I think it is a great way for them to make money. And it also will raise awareness of the Homeless population in Austin during and after the festival.

Having once “been there”, I can see where a few extra bucks always come in handy. I can also see how an enterprising but down-on-his-luck person might get into the one conversation that could turn his life around. It happens, and if it happens only a few times, it’s worth everything. Thanks, from someone who never forgot!

When I met the great love of my life, years ago, he was a freelance mechanic, and used to offer down-on-their-luck men a chance to help him for pay. If they seemed hungry, he’d feed them whatever he was eating. He never asked what they would use the money for; if he paid them and they didn’t come back, he didn’t stop hiring them, or anyone else. This unquestioned giving of not just money but dignity of work on a small scale never depended on the other person’s behavior. It was what Christians would call giving “to the least of these” and it was what drew me to him. I don’t know who thought of this idea we are discussing, but the thing I thought of first was the spirit of it, and that is what I most want to see fulfilled. I would rather be wrong believing the best of people than be right believing the worst.

I think it is a good idea but the execution is the problem.  If they had offered to pay college students to do it, it would not have been an issue. The other problem is the amount of money.  Seriously what is anyone going to do with that amount of money?  Also, how come these couldn’t have been stationary posts?

Actually, Dears—daMoney [presuming2B pocketed] seems would be waaaaay less than legal minimum wages+benefits [given framework of *donation*]!

One can wonder whether the *contractor* hotspotters had streetwise input on methodology!

Did/Does anyone know [?care!] whether such events include folks who actually donate$...otherwise!
IF the marketing folks are so good-natured, we can anticipate actual followup to know the success of venture…for vendors and vendored!

It’s a Good Idea cloaked in a Flawed Process.

If I hire a homeless person to wash my car or mow my lawn, would this also be news?