The first thing that popped into my mind when I read about the Junxion Box on BoingBoing was – Kurt’s ParasiteNet wifi boxes in Someone Comes to Town… The concept is a little different and EVDO is expensive, but this is cool. The post I linked to also points out the solar-powered backpack kit that can be used with this box.
I don’t know why Verizon is sweating about this. They could easily cash in on these boxes – make a compact version with built in EVDO card, and a weaker antenna – and charge customers premium price for a WIFI through EVDO access or something like that. Allot of people would buy this. Think about this. They go to Verizon shop, they pick up a box, they plug it into power, and all of a sudden all wireless devices in the house have internet access. When they go on vacation, they take their internet connection with them. When they move they take it with them. Many people would be willing to pay big bucks of this type of convenience.
I looked at these Verizon plans recently. EVDO is like $80+ a month. How many customers are willing to pay this price? Now think about this – with junxion box you can have 2-3 or more people pitching in for the connection. All of a sudden this option becomes affordable for wider audience. I think this would actually bring them more sales. But then again, what do I know…