The free airport Wi-Fi promotion from Google is a nice gesture, but in a perfect world, it wouldn't be necessary. Airport Wi-Fi should always be free, and I'm not just saying that as a pipe dream. I think it's inevitable.

There are a few reasons for this. First, the rise of smartphones means you don't need a laptop and Wi-Fi for core tasks such as checking e-mail or surfing the Web. So while it'd be nice to jump on my computer during a layover, I can still get on Twitter, access Gmail and read an endless supply of news stories with my iPhone's 3G connection.

Then, there are 3G-enabled notebooks and netbooks to consider. I don't think expensive monthly contracts appeal to the average consumer, but for the business set, constant connectivity has its advantages. If products like the take off, they'll surely cut into the business of airport Wi-Fi providers such as Boingo.

Finally, the hurried nature of airport travel, combined with the availability of in-flight Wi-Fi, makes paying for airport wireless Internet inefficient in terms of cost. If I've got a 40-minute layover ahead of a 3-hour flight, and Internet access costs roughly the same for both, I'm going to choose in-flight Wi-Fi, especially because I'll have no other options in the sky.

I'm not saying there's no value at all in paid airport Wi-Fi. I've used it once to file a PC World story on deadline, after a flight, when I had no other way to get Internet connection at a reasonable time. But that's a rare circumstance that I'd rather not repeat.