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SXSW, the annual vanity-carnival of schmoozing; marketing superficiality, and BBQ, has something new to offer Austin’s visitors: unalloyed human degradation. A New York ad firm has converted homeless people into 4G hotspots.
While the firm behind the stunt, BBH, was quick to defend the horrendous exploitation, FWD reports:
“The worry is that these people are suddenly just hardware,” [BBH] said, “but frankly, I wouldn’t have done this if i didn’t believe otherwise,” [BBH] added, “we’re very open to this criticism.”
Lucky to be “open to criticism,” because that’s all the “campaign” has turned up. Although this is ostensibly about giving the homeless money—BBH says they keep all the proceeds from those who pay for 4G access—it’s categorically awful, and all for the convenience of SXSW’s widely well-off patrons.
But it gives the homeless jobs! Yes, as would using them as human coffee tables, or hunting them as game, or having them dance for pennies in Superman outfits at your next dinner party. Working as hotspot is worse than not working at all. [FWD]
Image via Hardly Normal
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I disagree. What’s so degrading about it? The guy in the pic looks pretty happy. After all, no-one’s making them do it…
I agree with Harry, I wonder if the homeless would prefer a job as a 4g hotspot to no job at all? Trying to say otherwise from the comfort of a gizmodo desk seems a little thoughtless, try doing some actual research on the matter.
It seems fine to me too. It’s not as if they’re being abused in some way. They’re being paid to advertise and carry the network.
Very different to being used as a human coffee table.
How is this any worse than the job the people who hold reflective signs advertising hair removal or surplus sports goods have?
It’s not like they walked up to the homeless person, sedated them, and injected them with microchips to turn them into living microwave masts.
This is no worse than any other job a homeless person is likely to do. Hell, I’d do this if I had no plans for the day!
“Working as hotspot is worse than not working at all” -WTF !!! Please explain how this is true. You don’t half come out with some shit Mr Biddle, but this is taking the proverbial biscuit. How is it degrading to give a man a job, make him useful and welcomed by his fellow man. Maybe Apple should set up a few homeless hotspots for all the iTards who are sleeping on the streets through choice for overpriced electronics.
Somehow i don’t think the reporters spoke to any of the people using the hotspots. Those evil, immoral, internet users …..
No info here or on the source about how exactly these guys are being “turned into human routers” I assume they are wearing a belt or a vest with the hotspot and batteries attached.
Apparently they are equipped with a 4G mifi device
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17345926
Vast overreaction. I think this is fantastic; they are not only being given a job, but the opportunity to interact with people. Essentially being given the job of a salesman, customers will now come to these people to be provided a legitimate, useful and modern service, not just to bestow pity upon them. Where is the degradation in that?
I’m out of work at the moment, and I would happily work as 4G hotspot, for the right price of course.
No different than these people you see holding signs and arrows up letting you know a store is ‘Open 100 yards this way.’
You would be paid minimum wage in this country – how much are you expecting like?
Wouldn’t expect anything more than minimum wage for a no skill job, but it beats being on the dole which I currently am, and wouldn’t be too bad if the weather was OK. It goes without saying that it wouldn’t be long term thing.
However this could be just my desperation talking – Can’t take much more of going to the job centre every two weeks and being given zero advice/help.
I think this is way better then those sign holding jobs. I imagine those signs are a bastard in even moderate winds. It would be even better if they loaned them a 4G device, they could surf the net all day and be paid for it, maybe use that to find some other work or get advice on legal or medical problems.
what’s wrong with the commenters on this site? not only is it degrading, but it actually discourages any kind of job seeking, or getting back up on one’s feet, just like unemployment benefits that right-wingers like commenters on giz uk complain about so often
How is it degrading? They are earning a wage, proving themselves trustworthy and capable of following instructions, being clean and presentable and probably having to interact with the public too. These are all job skills. I’ve known homeless people, people who have fallen through the cracks, they don’t want a handout they want a job.
IGNORE – This is a juvenile serial TROLL.
he’s saying this because i outed him as a sexist. he even googled my username and found my blog and tried to use it against me
One of the key problems with getting a job is that you need an account, and for an account you need a home. At least from what I’ve heard. Oh and quit trolling.
Agree with Brocks411 and Harry, this is surprisingly thoughless writing from Gizmodo. It’s forward thinking, and brilliant. Big Issues don’t get read anymore except out of guilt; How about we let homeless offer a service we want, rather than wasting more paper on a magazine that less and less people read?
How is this any different than selling The Big Issue? They’re doing something useful, getting money for it and getting their life back? Or the people who hold Subway/McDonald’s signs?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/13/homeless-wi-fi-hotspot
This is how.
They may not be learning any skills that will help them later, but do people who hold up McDonald’s signs? I just find it stupid that that’s not criticised but this is.
the people who hold up those signs do that as a part of their job, a job they have applied and interviewed for. they’re not employed externally, subway and mcdonalds use their workforce for those jobs. anyway, that job is criticised, and even if it wasn’t, that by no means makes this right.
I’m fairly sure those people are employed as they’re cheap labour for the sole purpose of standing in the cold and holding the sign, not because of their success at interview.
oh, well if you’re fairly sure
How is me saying “I’m fairly sure” and worse than what you said, a definitive statement that I don’t believe is correct?
im not homeless but i am currently jobless and if someone wanted to pay me to sit in town and be a hotspot i sure as hell would, so i dont see the problem.
I’m sorry but this is nothing on the guys dancing in oversized pizza boxes around Birmingham – that’s what I’d call degrading.
I’m not sure how i feel about this. On one hand its a innovative idea and on the other it seems really degrading. Then again it’s a job and actually less degrading than sitting in a puddle of your own piss begging. If they do it happily and march along tongue in cheek then it will be fine i think. The depressing thing would be a line of business and women following an obviously depressed homeless person dressed as an aerial.
So we can put you down as a definite maybe?
I have yet to find anyone here who can tell me why this is degrading. They are not being made to wear a stupid costume, they are not being made to do it under treat of their benefits being taken away, they are getting paid and being useful, wanted human beings.
Can someone explain where the degradation comes into this?
I think it’s just the guilt of somebody doing for us what a small box does at home. It’s a very obvious statement of class. Normally we can just walk past, throw a quid down then smuggly get on with our day with a pounds worth of self satisfaction. Standing there using a human being as a hotspot so we can urgently comment on the next piece useless tech we think we need sort of drives it home. Then again it’s a job and the start of a possible way out of that life, so yes Darrell i have the fence firmly planted up my arse.
I think Digipy has hit the nail on the head here. It’s totally ok to feel bad for these people and their situation, while they haven’t been injected with microchips (that made me chuckle), I imagine if they had the choice of a proper home and ‘regular’ job, most of them would grab it with both hands… of course there are always those lost people who won’t accept or seek help. It’s all too easy to see them as exploited because of course if they could find better work they would.
As someone who has actually been in that position (ie homeless, I lived on the streets for 7 months aged 17 and only got off them by getting arrested for an offence worthy of a bail hostel… fwiw I’m fully reformed 12 years later!), I truly sympathise with the plight of the homeless. If someone wanted me to wear an antenna for a wage at that awful time in my life, I’d have been more than happy to. These days £5 gets you a hostel place for the night (I was quite shocked to find that they aren’t free anymore). So by giving them paid work, they are far more likely to enjoy a higher quality of life. Kudos to the company for giving them the opportunity, I say.
I really don’t feel these people are being exploited. As others have pointed out, it’s all too easy to bemoan things like this from the comfort of a warm office, knowing you have a home to go to at the end of the day. I’m sure the people being employed as hotspots are extremely grateful for the opportunity to put some money in their pockets / food in their belly / crack in their crackpipe*.
*please delete as appropriate
“Working as a hotspot is better than not working at all.”
You have got to be kidding. You see people doing all kinds of degrading work for a paycheck. This is hardly as bad as having to dress up like Uncle Sam or the Statue of Liberty for a tax service. Talking about finding work and self-esteem for the homeless is better than not talking about it at all.