Tents, s'mores, and a laptop: parks go online

Every spring and fall, bird watchers flock to state parks along the South Texas coast to watch the migration that makes this area one of the world's best birding sites. Books and printouts in tow, they slog through mud flats and marshes toward the call - or chirp - of the wild. But starting Jan. 1, they can leave their books at home, and simply turn on their laptops to check: Was that really a Black-throated Gray Warbler? And while I'm online, any e-mail to read?

On Jan. 1, Texas will become the first to provide wireless Internet service at state parks, with five of them hooked up in a new pilot program. In one sense, it's a natural extension of the tech revolution, bringing Internet access to a vast library of plants and animals. But the project also probes what it means to be connected and how far Americans will tolerate technology's encroachment. Where, some ask, is the "wild" in wireless?

"Obviously there is a demand for connectivity that some people just don't want to turn off," says John Horrigan, director of research at the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Wireless access, also called Wi-Fi service, is springing up almost everywhere, from America's campgrounds and coffeehouses to its ski slopes and cruise ships. Even the Capitol Mall in Washington is a "hot spot."

In all, more than 100,000 locations around the world have Wi-Fi service, and the number is rising daily. In fact, about 70 percent of laptop computers are expected to have Wi-Fi capability by 2007, according to Gartner, an information-technology research firm.

So far, the vast majority of users are conducting business, and have both the tools and the ability to pay the average daily service fee of $10 to $20, says Phillip Redman, a research vice president at Gartner. But there are also a growing number of free Wi-Fi hot spots, which make the cost of connectivity irrelevant. And with proliferating access and declining price, the user's physical location has become less important than ever before.

Take Angela and Richard Hoy. This summer, they began traveling the country for weeks at a time in their RV.

Mr. Hoy says they plan their route around campgrounds with Wi-Fi, and have used it to run their Internet business. Their four children, who are all home schooled, need to be online as well.

For such "digital nomads," connectivity enables travel with a purpose and the ability to maintain links to the rest of one's life. But what about those who just want to get back to nature - and shudder at the thought of a woods where Thoreau could go online?

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