New York Turns Payphones Into WiFi Hotspots - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.

It's amazing how fast an innovation can become quickly outdated these days. Take the case of public payphones - considered to be vital in an urban setting just several decades ago, are mere relics of an obsolete technology today.

New York City has found a way to put those payphone locations to good use - they have decided to expand them into Wifi hotspots.

The city is starting with 10 locations - 6 in Manhattan, 2 in Brooklyn, 1 in Queens and 2 others to follow in the Bronx and Staten Island. Approximate radius for each spot is 100-200 feet and if the program is successful, the city plans to expand it to 12,000 other locations.

While smartphone users will not find much use, folks with tablets without data service and laptops will find it valuable.

We expect WiFi to be available pretty much everywhere including on our flights. VentureBeat describes an incident at the San Francisco Airport - when the gate agent announced that the aircraft we were scheduled to board was having trouble with WiFi. People around the gate were incredulous.

What's the most surprising WiFi hotspot you have come across?