$8 gets you 15 minutes. Of what?
I’m in New York. Times Square to be exact.
The place I’m in is open 24 hours a day. The price is still the same, regardless of whether you drop in right after lunch or stumble in at 2 am.
I decided to stop by and check out some stuff because I’ve got an hour to kill before a speech…
You guess what it is yet?
It’s the fee that the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square charges guests for internet access in its business center. Every time a guest wanders in and inquires, the attendant tells them the rate with a smile – and no fewer than 5 groups of leisure travellers have ponied up.
The interesting thing to me is the seeming randomness of the charges. Yet another guest asks about internet access and the reply is a friendly "$8 for 15 minutes." Well, a guy came in and asked about an hour. "$32 for an hour." The guy asks about a half-hour. [long pause] "Umm…$15 for 30 minutes."
The guest says, "OK, I’ll go for 15 minutes."
I guess if you’re going to pay that much, you’re not using much sense anyway.
[BTW I’m using a tethered Blackberry.]