Notes from on the road

Been out of town this week for the first time since starting this blog. For one thing, it gave me another chance to try out the free Wi-Fi at KCI Airport. Unfortunately, I had to do so with my old backup laptop, which is no longer a backup since my primary machine finally succumbed earlier this month to its host of maladies (well, I got five more months out of it so all in all I'd say it was worth trying to fix it back in December even though that undoubtedly hastened its demise). As I've mentioned here, this rig has never been a shining performer when it comes to wireless networking. I really didn't have time to baby it onto KCI's network before I had to answer the boarding call. Too bad.

From there it was on to Denver. I was a bit more preoccupied with finding breakfast and making my connecting flight-if you're keeping score, I only batted .500, not locating my preferred dining venue until just before I had to be at the gate-but I did manage to notice what looked like pay-phone kiosks where you could apparently plug in your laptop. My, how archaic. Whether the airport was unwired or not, either on a free or play-for-pay basis, I can't say because I didn't take the time to pull out my finder and scan for signals. Perhaps I'll check on the return trip tomorrow, but I'm not promising anything. At any rate, Denver could take a hint from KC. Low signal strength notwithstanding, I counted at least a half-dozen other users in Terminal A at KCI at the crack of dawn. I don't recall seeing a single laptop out at DIA half an hour later (allowing for the time zone difference). The message ought to be clear: Travelers get gouged enough with passenger facility fees, overpriced meals (it's probably to my benefit that I didn't find that restaurant in time) and taxes, taxes, and more taxes. Why dig your hand even more deeply into their pockets for just a few minutes of Internet access between flights-and why offer that access in such an outmoded, inconvenient, twentieth-century kind of way? Someone making his or her way between arrival and departure gates really doesn't have time to stop at a kiosk.


The second and final air leg of your humble correspondent's journey ended in Salt Lake City, where there at least used to be a Laptop Lane location (a short-term rental workspace with outrageously priced wired broadband access, for those of you who've never heard of them). Again, I was busy with making onward connections after arrival-this time a rental car to deliver myself and my compatriots to our theater of operations-so I neither had time to see if this enterprise had gone the way of the horse and buggy (since the last I knew they were owned by Wayport, so the handwriting was certainly on the wall) nor was I able to scan for wireless access. And unless my flight tomorrow gets delayed before boarding, I likely won't have time to check then either. I did note not seeing anyone else not in as much of a hurry as me with a laptop out, though. Once more, SLC's city leaders should take heed.

And I regret to report that the low-signal-strength epidemic has spread beyond the KC metro. I'm in the same unwired hotel where I stayed two years ago and if anything, the signal strength delivered to the rooms is worse now than it was then. Staying connected with my laptop's built-in card proved hopeless-and to my horror, I discovered that I hadn't bothered to install the drivers for my newly replaced USB adapter/finder (the one for the original wouldn't work). After a couple of hours I managed to get it downloaded from ZyXEL's site; another evening's work got the adapter up and running. Then I remembered that my trusty PC Card adapter, which I had begun using again with the other laptop's Linux installation, was still ensconced in my bag. In fact, I'm posting this via that card. One wonders, however, what the hotel expects someone not as tech-savvy as me to do should he or she run into problems getting and staying connected.

What's that? You get what you pay for? Well, "free" Internet access in a lodging facility really isn't free as far as I'm concerned (it's also really not "open" either since it's obviously intended for use by paying guests; that's why I don't evaluate hotels in the normal course of this blog, and why I'm not identifying this one by name). Sort of like the "free" continental breakfast I'm going to enjoy in a few hours. There is that little jam session the clerk and I will be performing with a cash register and credit card at the end of all this, remember? In deciding where to stay again I'd mark a hotel down for a dirty room or a balky air conditioner-issues I wouldn't be expected to pay more to have taken care of. Why not expect Internet access offered at no extra charge to work as well?

I'll offer once more this universal bit of advice to hotspot operators. Try using the connection yourself. See with your own eyes what your customers experience. If there's anything there you're not as proud of as you are of any of your other products or services, FIX IT!

What could there possibly be about this that any businessperson doesn't understand?