Mike Temporale
06-21-2006, 02:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.suntimes.com/output/tech/cst-nws-power19.html' target='_blank'>http://www.suntimes.com/output/tech/cst-nws-power19.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Last month, 40,000 air travelers coughed up a daily fee of $6.95 for the right to access the Internet at O'Hare and Midway airports. But what good is wireless Internet access if passengers have no place to recharge their dying BlackBerries, PDAs and laptop computers? Newly appointed Chicago Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez has been asking herself that question after strolling through passenger terminals, only to find desperate travelers sitting on the floor hogging electrical outlets reserved for maintenance equipment. "People are recharging in the various sockets available through the janitorial services. . . . We have maintenance outlets throughout the airport used mainly for vacuuming and cleaning. But those are the only outlets available. So we have travelers sitting on the floor, plugging in and recharging," Fernandez said."</i><br /><br />During my last travels, I was one of those people hanging around the electrical outlets. Luckily, I was able to sit on a nearby seat and not the floor. Anyway, it's nice to see that people are paying attention to these details, and what's better is that the re-charge stations are going to be free. I was concerned that it would be a terminal where you have to swipe your credit card before the outlet is "activated". Thankfully, that's not the case. :D