Access to Plugs, Sockets, Electricity
Posted on June 19th, 2006 in Usability | 34 Comments »
I’m in a hotel room that is fine; plenty of lights, clean bathroom, big bed. It even has a working iron, free high speed internet access, and a big TV.
What this room lacks, which most rooms lack, is good access to electricity. There is some sort of contraption under the desk in a hard to reach spot which yields six sockets. However, they are side by side, which means by using one, you really use two. And, if you’re like me and your techno widgets utilize bigger-than-normal plugs, then one plug will really eat up three sockets.
Remember, this is all happening under the desk. So, when one device is charged up, I have to crawl under the desk, pull out one or two plugs, adjust everything, and pray that I can insert the new plug. Under the desk, I get to snuggle up with dust bunnies and wispy cobwebs.
Am I alone or is this a problem for everyone?
34 Responses
You’re not alone–I’ve noticed this as well Maybe it’s a problem of the architect and the engineer/construction guys not realising how the space in a room is going to be used.
p.s. (freebie comment here) Thanks for all of the comments you’ve already posted over at InvestorGeeks.
You are definitely not alone on this one. I travel fairly frequently, and I can only recall one occasion (sorry, can’t remember the city or hotel) where they had a power strip type device within easy reach on top of the desk. The rest are just like you describe, on hands and knees under the desk. I usually end up un-plugging lights to get the phone and pda plugged in somewhere.
All bets are off when you get over the pond. Last time I went to the UK I took my wife and daughter, and on the very first day I was shaving when all the power went off in the room. I came out of the bathroom to find my wife (with a somewhat surprised look on her face) holding a hair blower attached to my only power converter, which now had heavy black smoke coming out of it. She is now the proud owner of a butane powered hair blower.
Couldn’t you request a power strip from the concierge/front desk? If they were continually getting requests, a lightbulb might go on and they’d recognize a customer service opportunity.
The most needed thing is usually the hardest one to get, usually. Call it a Murphy’s Law or something ;)
But seriously, this happens so many times it is not funny. Why does everyone look over such simple stuff as eletricity sockets position?
Yuri, speaking of rotating sockets, here’s something I remember seeing several weeks ago:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6638074.html
http://www.gizmag.co.uk/go/5287/
However, even with the rotation (cool!) there’s still the under-the-desk problem…
- – - – -
Kim,
Yes, I could request a power strip and add another data point or reference point. However, I’d rather have it play out the other way around, namely that the hotel would understand the needs of people ahead of time. That’s what UX and usability is all about. ;-)
- – - – -
DavidC,
“butane powered hair blower” = wow. How does that make it through customs / airport security? Nevermind, pretend I didn’t ask. Shhh!
Generally, electricity sockets seem to be positioned in poor locations. Why put them near floor level anyway, especially where they are going to be hidden or covered by a desk or chair? Do we ever put shelves for frequently used items 2 inches off the ground? So why would we position sockets that are (often) plugged & unplugged a few times a day in such an awkward place?
One (partial) solution for travelling might be to take an adaptor that plugs into light-bulb fittings, using a bayonet or screw connector. These used to be fairly common in the UK but are now extremely difficult to find – I presume there are some safety issues as the light socket may only be able to handle 100W or so maximum. Nevertheless it can be very convenient to be able to plug something in to a desk lamp to charge overnight without scrabbling around under the desk on your hands & knees.
Perhaps ultimately the answer is for houses, offices, hotels, etc, to have lower-voltage DC networks, maybe in the form of parallel, flexible strips running along the walls at whatever height you choose, with devices able to attach anywhere to them. If manufacturers could agree on a standard voltage for consumer electronics, phone chargers, etc, there would be no need for all the ‘wall warts’ and ugly, awkward adaptors, heavy transformers inside devices, and so on. Each house or room could have a single transformer and rectifier to provide the DC supply… Edison would have liked it, I guess.
[...] Whether, in the case he’s discussing, the electrical outlets really were positioned far from the seats to stop people plugging in laptops and so on, or whether the positioning of the seats and the outlets were entirely unconnected decisions (badly-positioned sockets aren’t exactly uncommon) my intuition tells me that there will be plenty of other examples where a ‘convenience’ feature is deliberately crippled or implemented in a way that restricts customers’ ability to use it. When it’s done for strategic reasons (appear better to customers, or just save money on electricity), it’s certainly an architectrue of control. [...]
[...] Inconvenience: deliberate or accidental? – “Whether, in the case he’s discussing, the electrical outlets really were positioned far from the seats to stop people plugging in laptops and so on, or whether the positioning of the seats and the outlets were entirely unconnected decisions (badly-positioned sockets aren’t exactly uncommon) my intuition tells me that there will be plenty of other examples where a ‘convenience’ feature is deliberately crippled or implemented in a way that restricts customers’ ability to use it. When it’s done for strategic reasons (appear better to customers, or just save money on electricity), it’s certainly an architecture of control.” [...]
The second thing you’ll probably notice is that there aren’t a lot of ‘em. Power, you see, is quite expensive in Europe.
This is a common problem. I think more than any thing else it a mental block to place swithes at one point. the reason may be more planning involved and more wiring. when we are using electrical points convenience and safety is must. It is very tedious to look for sockets behind or underneath the tables. A flexibi.ity has to be lend to the electrical wiring and positionong of points. planning should be done for under the floor wiring while deciding the layout of the room.
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WebWord » Blog Archive » Access to Plugs, Sockets, Electricity great article thank you.
WebWord » Blog Archive » Access to Plugs, Sockets, Electricity great article thank you.