March 20, 2011 - 4:34pm
Students and Ann Arbor locals rally on Diag during Google Fest
BY BRIENNE PRUSAK
About 400 University students and Ann Arbor residents gathered on the Diag today for Google Fest — an event put on to show support for Ann Arbor’s bid for Google Fiber — a new fiber optic network that is projected to be up to 100 times faster than current high-speed Internet.
Google will choose one or more locations across the country to test the new service. Besides Ann Arbor, cities that are running include Grand Rapids, Rochester, NY and Topeka, Kansas — which changed its name to Google during March.
According to the Ann Arbor Google Fiber Facebook page — which has grown to more than 16,400 fans — Google Fest’s goal was “to catapult Ann Arbor’s Google Fiber fight to the national level.”
Google Fest kicked off at 11:57 a.m. with a flash-mob in the Diag.
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje took part in the opening statements and said he supports bringing Google Fiber to Ann Arbor because it will provide students a way to access materials online faster.
Hieftje said Google Fiber will “further the mission of the University of Michigan.”
Throughout the day live entertainment and music played on the Diag. Laptops with Internet access were available for people to “become a fan” of the Ann Arbor Google Fiber Facebook page, upload YouTube videos and post statements on Twitter in support of Google Fiber coming to Ann Arbor.
Some local businesses — including Ashley’s Bar & Grill, BTB Burrito, Buffalo Wild Wings and Stucci’s — also offered discounts to customers who supported Google Fiber.
Speakers at the event included community organizer Chad Wiebesick, president of the Ann Arbor Ad Club, and University Law School student Brandon Wallace, who helped organize the event.
During his speech, Wallace said he is concerned that Comcast has a monopoly on high-speed Internet on campus and believes that Google Fiber would break the monopoly with competitively-priced Internet.
LSA sophomore Dillon Baxter, who attended the event, said one of the main benefits of Google Fiber would be that students could quickly download course materials like large data files.
LSA sophomore Matt Isaacs, another attendee, said the high-speed network would draw attention to the University and help showcase its growth and technological advancements.
