Wifi Revolution

Starbucks has announced that it is partnering with both Apple (News - Alert) and Yahoo to create a sort of exclusive, in-store digital content network.

The network, which debuts at the coffee chain this week, will offer customers exclusive free e-books, movies and music in hopes of drawing WiFi (News - Alert)-enabled customers in to spend money, both on drinks and content they've sampled.

Customers will be able to download the Starbucks' free song of the week via iTunes, and find small, easily digestible “snacks” of Web content (courtesy of Yahoo) while they are on the store premises: in other words, don't expect to find a free download of Tolstoy's novel “War and Peace” or the five-hour director's cut of the film “Return of the King.”

Most people who surf for Web content in a store location are only looking for bite-sized pieces of content, anyway, according to the partners. Another attractive prospect for customers resulting from the partnership is the availability of free log-ins to normally paid news sites such as the Wall Street Journal.

“Users across the Internet are moving more into this 'snackable behavior' to begin with,” said Burke Culligan, vice president of product management at Yahoo. (In other words, our attention spans continue to shorten even more, something we might not have thought possible five years ago.)

Starbucks is expected to receive a cut (how much was not revealed) of any content that is purchased through the new network based on customer sampling.

The partnership -- or one aspect of it -- isn't completely new. Starbucks and Apple have been partners since 2007, allowing Starbucks customers with WiFi devices to browse, search and preview for free millions of songs on iTunes, including a “Now Playing” service that displays the name of the song playing in the Starbucks store at that moment. Customers could then easily buy and download songs or albums directly to their devices. There were no price breaks on iTunes for Starbucks customers: it was more about convenience and content arrangement. At the time of the partnership, Steve Jobs (News - Alert) played up the “Now Playing” service.

“Getting free access to the iTunes WiFi Music Store and the ‘Now Playing’ service at Starbucks is a great way for customers to discover new music,” said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs in 2007. “Imagine walking into a participating Starbucks, hearing a great song, and being able to instantly download it onto your iPod or iPhone (News - Alert). We think this is very cool.”

The new initiative appears to be a way to for Starbucks to stay competitive in the “free WiFi plus dedicated content” race that many restaurant chains, including McDonalds and Borders, are looking to get a piece of. Starbucks began offering free WiFi to customers this past July.