how quaint...

[acroyear]

A Blog Around The Clock : Rage 2.0:

I went back to my room and looked around. There were several objects in the room that, if there was a problem, hotel would fix quickly, yet they looked so quaint, so 20th century, so useless in today's world.

There were alarm clocks. Why? Mrs.Coturnix and I are not gadget-happy folks, yet between us we had at least 4 or 5 "things" that have the alarm clock function on them (two cell phones, a blackberry, two laptops).

There were radios. Who listens to the radio (except locally, when at home - that's different)? If I want music, I do not want to depend on some local DJ and his taste. I will go online and find exactly the music I want to hear at any given moment (and put it on my iPod if I want to). If I want news, I do not want to depend on the scheduling and choices of the radio news team. I will go online and find exactly the news and information I need at that moment. Even if I overhear some piece of news on the radio, I will have to go online to check if it is true, because Corporate Media is not to be trusted - it is unreliable.

There was a TV. I have not turned on a TV in a hotel in years! What for? For entertainment, TV is crappy - there is so much more and better stuff online. And anyway, I am traveling, my entertainment is likely happening outside of my room - sightseeing, meeting bloggers, participating in a conference.... As for news and information, TV is even less reliable than radio. The Web rules.

There was a telephone. A land line. Why? Because that is the only way to call the reception desk until they adopt a more modern technology. When was the last time you used your room land-line phone to make a call out? To a friend? A decade ago?

I'll be perfectly happy to get a room without an alarm clock, without a radio, without a TV and without a telephone if I am guaranteed flawless perfect online access included in the price of the room.

Actually, we do turn the TV on in the morning when in hotels but mostly for the local weather and Today Show.

Comments

[stori-lundi.livejournal.com]

And you can check out using the TV.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

so it wouldn't take that much to check out using the internet.

and i've only once checked out through the tv, years ago at that. 2 other times (2 other places) i hit ye royal "technical difficulties" and that was that.

[stori-lundi.livejournal.com]

I'd be hesistant to check out via the Internet because of security issues. But I check out using the TV all the time with no problems. It's especially handy when everyone is checking out at once whereas I don't trust hotel networks to be up and running smoothly if everyone choose to check out via the Internet at the same time.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

well, i didn't mean the internet in the larger sense - just a local server attached to their LAN, inaccessible from the outside world by the firewall but accessible from within, with a security key of some type so you can't log in unless you can prove you're a customer.

no credit card numbers are attached to this box at all - everything is "charge to the credit card on file".

the same system could handle room service orders and other such stuffs.

internet was the wrong term for what i had in mind, but intranet has kinda not gotten the colloquial understanding i wish it had.