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Survey Finds Airport Wi-Fi More Important Than Food

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-can-go-days-without-food dept.

Ninjakicks writes "For the business traveler (and the traveler in general, really), Wi-Fi is important — crucial, even. But more important than sustenance? That's exactly what was found in a recent survey by American Airlines and HP, where some 47% of business travelers responded that Wi-Fi was the most important airport amenity, outscoring basic travels needs such as food by nearly 30 percent."

10 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. Not surprising by Tridus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Airport food is expensive and usually bad. It's much easier to pack a lunch or just eat when you arrive then it is to pack a WiFi base station.

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    -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
    1. Re:Not surprising by an.echte.trilingue · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I disagree. Airport food is usually pretty good, although it is way too expensive. Also, trying to get a nice meal (which, for me, usually includes drinks and sauces or yogurt) through security is not that easy.

      I think this has more to do with a pyramid of needs. Once you have enough sleep, you think about water. Once you have enough water, you think about nutrition. Once you have enough nutrition, you think about the food tasting good, and so on.

      What this survey means is that airports are meeting those basic needs well enough that people can think about things that are higher up on the pyramid but not adequately provided, not that those things lower on the pyramid are actually that important.

      Imagine for a moment that airports suddenly removed all of the bathrooms. Where do you think Wifi would rank on the next survey?

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    2. Re:Not surprising by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Also travellers are used to being burned by airports without Wifi but they've never seen an airport without something to eat. It's natural that they'd complain about the former.

    3. Re:Not surprising by laughingcoyote · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's called stealing.

      That's called silly. What are you stealing? Are they going to run out of packets more quickly that way?

      It is cracking, and certainly one can call into question the ethics of cracking into a network when you clearly know you are not supposed to be accessing it. One can also question the ethics of charging outrageously more for wifi than it costs to set it up and run it. One can also make a good case that the network is not meant to be closed to the public, it's simply meant to be paywalled, and so bypassing that paywall is not invading anyone's privacy. So even the ethical question is not as clear cut as you might think at first.

      Regardless, however, words have meanings. Stealing is taking something away from you that's exclusive (you and I can't both have it) without your consent. It's not a synonym for "conduct I dislike" or "conduct I find unethical".

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  2. restrooms ? by Dolphinzilla · · Score: 4, Insightful

    restrooms would be my number one airport amenity ..

  3. People care about what has given them trouble by SirLoadALot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The people answering the survey recognize -- apparently better than the people who looked at the results -- that every airport has some food in it, but not every airport has acceptable Wi-Fi. No one answering the survey was thinking "I'd rather starve on the net than feast without it!"

  4. Gotta love surveys by Gothmolly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "a recent survey by American Airlines and HP"....

    I bet "a recent survey by American Airlines and Pizza Hut" would have come to the opposite conclusion.

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  5. Sign of internet addiction? by petes_PoV · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Surely it's possible for an individual to spend a few hours away from an internet connection?

    Even for a "business" user, you should be well enough organised that your employer can afford to be out of touch with you for a short period, without suffering catastrophic business failure (if not, they should fire you immediately as you are obviously a single point of failure and as such a total liability to the organisation).

    If you do suffer symptoms of stress or anxiety when disconnected from the 'net this sounds a lot like a personality disorder - even if you do use the old line: "No, really, I just like the internet. I could give up any time".

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  6. Electrical outlets by Vadim+Makarov · · Score: 4, Insightful

    is the second most important thing. I'd even say it's the first one: I can live without internet, but to work offline I need to charge the laptop.

    At most airoports a few outlets in the waiting areas are at best inconveniently located (being designed for plugging cleaning machines rather than for traveller's use), and at worst unavailable. I've spent more than a few strolls down the halls trying to find a free outlet and a seat withing the reach of it.

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    1. Re:Electrical outlets by seinman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Want to be the most popular guy at the airport? Throw a plug strip in your laptop bag. After turning two plugs into seven, all the tech addicts on the flight were buying me drinks. Good times.