For a few blissful seconds, I thought I had true network connectivity on my iPhone here at Bates. For a few blissful seconds.

A few minutes ago, I accidentally opened the WiFi configuration panel on my iPhone. As it happened, my phone showed not one, but two different wireless access points: Bates — the campus-wide WiFi I have complained about ad nauseam for the last nine months — and BatesGuest, something new. In a moment of chimerical optimism, I connected to the aforementioned network, just to see what would happen. To my astonishment, just a few minutes later I could open Safari and browse the World Wide Web on my iPhone without any perceivable restrictions.

Then I tried to check my email.

I pushed the Home button, tapped Mail and waited for that wonderful new mail ping. Ten seconds passed. Then thirty. Then sixty. Then I knew I wouldn't have my cake and eat it too. Bates ILS, doubtlessly in the name of network security, has restricted devices using the BatesGuest access point to TCP/IP traffic only. No FTP. No IMAP. No ZeroConf.

While I understand most users have an inexpert understanding of network security, this kind of sandbox is ridiculous. Not only am I unable to check my email on my phone, I'm also prevented from using a host of incredibly useful tools that necessitate my phone and computer be on the same subnet.

Take Air Sharing, a promising application that allows users to copy files from their Macs to their iPhones by way of a Bonjour connection. I can't use it to, say, save paper by storing PDF readings on my phone rather than carrying around a printed copy. Or the Apple iTunes Remote application. Not to mention the fantastic applications just waiting for Apple's okay. (Provided they actually make it.)

The college campus has spawned a host of revolutionary innovations. Bates' lack of a computer science department notwithstanding, the school's ruthless IT security policy means the next Facebook or Napster will likely be developed elsewhere.

As much as I object to some of the experimentation that happens in dark corners of the campus, college is meant to be a place for people to experiment. Unlike experimentation in the physical world, however, software permits perfect control. So, while a student could decide to scream "Fire!" during the drama department's next performance to, say, test the boundaries of free speech — bearing in mind our nation's current laws — perfect control of our network means no experimentation whatsoever. And that's unfortunate.