Free Wi-Fi…Really?

I can't understand why it is still so common to see signs on restaurants, coffee shops, hotels and various retail establishments announcing "Free Wi-Fi". Really? This provision has become so common these days that you'd be a fool to actually pay a dime for Wi-Fi service. And you'd be an even bigger fool to expect to collect a fee for providing the service.

I understand there was a time, not so very long ago, when wireless internet connectivity was newer on the technology landscape. The access of internet without an ethernet cable was quite the coveted convenience for those who were traveling with laptops and were frequently working from internet cafes and hotel rooms. Today, it's rare to find a person, regardless of age, who doesn't rely on wireless connectivity for a wide range of potential devices, including: Smartphone, electronic E-readers, iPads, DS gaming systems and other such internet-dependant gadgets.
With everybody and their mothers now providing wireless routers it seems almost criminal these days to exact payment for said service. So why state it at all? If somebody actually had cojones big enough to ask a fee to connect to their wireless service, I think all you'd need to do is take a short walk down the street, or even a door away to find somebody who gives it away.
The term "Free Wi-Fi" has become as pointless as the sign on the corner tavern that reads, "Cold Beer". Oh really…as opposed to all the other watering holes in town that subject me to their room-temperature brew? Did the iceman finally get there and you have a fresh block in the icebox? Or what about the sign on the motel that for years read: "Heated Pool"? I saw this for years after it was standard practice to provide comfortable swimming pool temperatures.
And my all time favorite, and this I actually spotted on a flea-bag motel when I traveled through the deep South this past summer…drum roll please… "Color Television". I wonder if it was cable?