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U.S. Airports Just Now Installing Charging Stations?
I was reading this story over at Yahoo about U.S. airports installing electric charging stations to "bring precious energy more conveniently to millions of travelers who rely on a plethora of battery-powered devices." Hmm, I thought... that sounds familiar. And then I remembered why. When I was in India, there wasn't a single airport I visited that didn't have something like this. These were the same airports that had dogs running around on the tarmac, and women in saris perched several stories high on bamboo scaffolding to repair a broken P.A. speaker. Point being, these were most definitely NOT high-tech airports, yet they had the same power options that American airports are just getting around to installing. I wonder why that is?
I browsed around my photo collection, but unfortunately could only find a shot of a "facility for charging mobile phones," which is pictured above. This was taken at the domestic airport in Mumbai.
So what's been your experience with power options in U.S. airports? Good or bad? Personally, I've never had a problem -- domestically or otherwise -- finding an outlet to use, whether it was part of a charging kiosk or otherwise.
Filed under: Airports
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Catherine Sep 18th 2007 2:53PM
Oddly, I've never traveled with anything that needed to be charged, so I've never even thought about this or noticed the lack of outlets in the U.S.! I'm certainly behind the times.
alex Sep 18th 2007 3:49PM
two words: LIABILITY INSURANCE
it's because of dipshits who might accidentally electrocute themselves or their equipment when charging their electronics... and then hold the airport responsible... please
Justin Glow Sep 18th 2007 7:15PM
Ya think, Alex? If it were a liability issue, they wouldn't be installing them at all. But they are. Hmm...
Willy Sep 19th 2007 7:25AM
Many US airports are hideously behind the times. They don't want to install charging stations,due to cost, so they're waiting for someone to figure out how to *charge* for the right to, um, charge your gear. When a vendor can license the space and pay the airports to set up charging stations, I bet you see them popping up all over.
Of course, electrical outlets should be a courtesy at airports -- just like free WiFi SHOULD be!
Robobagins Sep 19th 2007 12:09PM
It's an age thing. US airports are OLD, not to all the red tape in the of getting stuff done. Thankfully I've never been to an airport where I couldn't find a free outlet to top up my charge, even in China.