14 years
Now you mention it.. I take a look on the common room and see 7 people.. all with laptops.. :/
--- I go interupt them! :D
I fear for the future.
Hostel Trends and News
Five years ago no one travelled with a laptop or hand-held device; people sat around talking to each other. It all seems different now; possibly over 50% of guests arrive with their own way of getting on-line. The use of the communal computer has dived. Too many faces just staring at Facebook or You-tube and not communicating with others in the hostel.
Have you noticed this trend? I for one do not like it! What will it be like in another 5 years?
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14 years
What will it be like in another 5 years?
In five years maybe people won't even travel -- they will just look at pictures on the Internet :)
I'm guilty of being online a lot while traveling, but I'm not really on vacation (still working full time). I've been trying to do it from Internet cafes instead of the hostels though...
I don't think it's a good idea to travel with a laptop. I would get rid of mine in a moment if I could :)
14 years
Brainstorming some quick ideas during breakfast -- they may not be very good :)
- put up a sign that between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. the WiFi is turned off. Then bring out the drinks and make sure they are having too much fun by 9 p.m to go back to their computers.
- make WiFi free for the first hour and charge one euro per hour after that. Or make two hours free, and then charge full Internet price after that (4 to 6 euros per hour or whatever a hostel charges.) This would probably only work in places where there aren't a lot of hostels because of competition.
- don't keep power outlets in the common area -- people will run out of batteries. Though they may end up working on their laptops in the dorms.
- maybe hostels could collaborate on a single flyer to post in common rooms about how it's it's not very adventurous to spend your entire vacation on a laptop (like the style of this flyer)
14 years
Not as bad as TVs: laptops (or fixed computers) take only the participants out of circulation, not everyone else who is in the same room.
But perhaps many people travel with the INTENTION of spending time on their computer communicating with their friends or keeping up with business tasks in the evenings. And if they have taken the trouble to pack their laptop, they may feel the need to make full use of it. If so, there's not much one can do about it. One could make the chatting or party ambience so good that people will have the urge to join in.
Time restrictions work quite well for TVs (TV only in the evenings, or only after 9pm). They seem a good idea for computing facilities, but they would cause annoyance, just as charges do.
14 years
Chris! You need more plugs and faster Wi-Fi! Greetings from your common area. :D
14 years
Agreed, but that is a job for next winter. In the meantime I think I will just turn the bl**dy router off!
14 years
Agreed, but that is a job for next winter. In the meantime I think I will just turn the bl**dy router off!
I plead "guilty".
14 years
Five years ago no one travelled with a laptop or hand-held device; people sat around talking to each other. It all seems different now; possibly over 50% of guests arrive with their own way of getting on-line. The use of the communal computer has dived. Too many faces just staring at Facebook or You-tube and not communicating with others in the hostel.
Have you noticed this trend? I for one do not like it! What will it be like in another 5 years?
This is the future, and it's not going to change. It's not just to do with computers though. Years ago people who went to hostels would expect to socialise with others. Now the vast majority of our guests seem to be happy to just not socialise or talk amongst the group that they arrived with. As people are more prosperous they are less sociable in my opinion. Of course there are exceptions to this, but that's the general trend I see.
14 years
Another random idea:
Do you think guests would accept the idea of "laptop cubicles"?
Get rid of all WiFi. Make a separate room for laptops where there are library-style cubicles with ethernet cables. If people want to use WiFi they could go off to the cubicle room and use a cubicle. That would keep laptops out of the common areas...
Maybe not a great idea from a business perspective, but I'm curious what the result would be :)
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