Telecom Hotel; Guilt-Free Vacation

[Gareth Branwyn]

There's another, related term I don't think has been mentioned here:

HOTELING - This is where a Web site sends their own computer to an ISP so
that it can act as a dedicated server for their content. For my Street
Tech.Com tech site, our provider told us they provided "hoteling," if we
wanted to send them a dedicated "box."


> From: Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 13:39:03 EDT
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Telecom Hotel; Age Wave
>
> TELECOM HOTEL
>
> THE NEW YORK TIMES, Real Estate, section 11, 3 September 2000, pg. 1:
>
> _E-Business Alters ABC's of Real Estate_
> _At "telecom hotels," tenants insist on greater control_
>
> Check Google.com.  There have been many "telecom hotel" articles since
> July 2000, including:
> www.thestandard.com/article/article_print/1,1153,16774,00.html
> It's not for people.  A telecom hotel is where "data checks in."
> The Big Question:  DO KIDS STAY FREE??

GUILT-FREE VACATIONING - On an ABC News report a few nights ago about people
taking their beepers, phones and laptops on vacation, they talked about a
policy at Radio Shack called "guilt-free vacationing." Apparently many in
today's wired workforce are nervous about losing their jobs, important
contracts, missed opportunities, etc. if they're "off the grid" for any
length of time. Radio Shack asks their employees expressly not to do this,
calling it guilt-free vacationing.

We vacationed on Nantucket this year and I was amazed to see how many people
had laptops, PDAs, cell phones on the beach (electronics and sand do not
mix!). One guy who was sitting in front of us, spent the ENTIRE afternoon on
the phone. Another lady worked both a cell phone and a sub-notebook during
much of her beach time. I'm a fairly wired guy, but this is disturbing to
me. That AT&T "You Will" netherworld where vacationing and work are always
leaking into each other seems to have become a reality. Mother Ocean had the
last word with one family when a huge rogue wave wiped out their beach gear.
They had a cell phone, PalmPilot and CD player on their towels, which all
got thoroughly soaked. I looked on in horror as they did what you should
NEVER do under these circumstances, they immediately turned everything on.
If the gear wasn't destroyed already, it was then. (If this ever happens to
you, take the batteries out, let the gear dry THOROUGHLY and then try
turning it on.)