bookofjoe MoneyMaker™ — This one's for Apple

We don't discriminate here: the rich are welcome to get even richer, witness this post.

I noticed Steve Jobs's recent announcement that the iPhone goes on sale in the U.K. on November 9, 2007.

Nick Wingfield and Daniel Thomas wrote in a September 19, 2007 Wall Street Journal article about the launch, "Another risk for Apple in Europe is the iPhone's lack of support for 3G mobile networks, which offer high-speed Internet surfing on mobile handsets. Apple executives have said they supported a slower network called Edge in the initial iPhone because 3G isn't pervasive enough yet in the U.S., and the chips needed to access the faster networks use too much battery power. But 3G networks are more common in Europe, so using the iPhone's many Internet features may frustrate Europeans.

"Apple and O2 are attempting to lessen the problem by giving iPhone users in the U.K. free access to 7,500 Wi-Fi hot spots around the U.K. run by wireless company the Cloud. Wi-Fi connections offer broadband Internet speeds that exceed those of even 3G, but the technology typically provides only short-range coverage in cafes, hotel lobbies and other public locations."

That free WiFi access makes excellent sense, especially since Edge is only available in areas covering about 30% of the British population, as opposed to a much higher penetration in the U.S.

But what about iPhone users in the U.S. who might be stuck with Apple's much slower Edge network well into next year, or even beyond?

Here's the MoneyMaker™: Since Apple and Starbucks have agreed to eventually bring free wireless iTunes store access to iPhone users at any Starbucks, why not think different and open up Starbucks' WiFi network — free — to iPhones in the U.S. right now?

Win-win for Apple and Starbucks.

But hey, what do I know?