Fontainebleau, the currently-under-construction resort between Sahara and The Riviera has launched a new version of their website which has a bunch of groovy information buried within a video and brochure.
The site features a QuickTime video outlining a number of the properties offerings including history of the Miami Fontainebleau hotel and flythroughs of computer generated models of the interior of the casino and other public areas.
Fontainebleau has partnered with Apple to put an iMacs in every room… Fontainebleau guests experience a new sensory landscape through an innovative relationship with Apple. The program includes intuitive and simple options for booking and pre-planning stays online and interactive programming throughout the resort. An iMac in every guest room inspires guests to share memories and encourages personal expression.
3,889 rooms, suites, penthouses…with an iMac in each one. Tee hee.
That is a tech support nightmare. 3800+ computers open to the public in private rooms with only a few hours to work on them between guests if problems arise.
It’s not clear from the article whether the iMac is a full-featured computer (internet access, productivity apps, etc.) or if you’re limited to the lame-o “Digital Media Program”, which looks like a glorified version of the interactive check-out-using-the-TV thing that many hotels have.
If it’s the former, cool!
If it’s the latter, fuck that. If I want “simple options for booking and pre-planning stays online and interactive programming throughout the resort”, I’ll just call the front desk, thanks.
What a concept
Ease of use
Reliability
All most people on a vacation or road travel need or want is email and simple browsing capabilities
For most users moving from a windows to a Mac is seamless – its like moving from a standard transmission car to an automatic whereas the other way round is the struggle from an automatic transmission vehicle to a standard manual gear transmission model with a clutch
Hmm. Are these Macs that come with cameras? The sort that can be turned on remotely? …
#4 – I like that thought….Hmm.
A workstation or a “Advertising Kiosk” ??? If the latter, bring a SHOTGUN !!! Corporations will spend plenty to “Capture your eyeballs”, so I imagine you might have Internet accsss, but through a small peephole, surrounded by ads !!! And watch out for TIMED INTERNET ACCESS CHARGES ADDED TO YOUR BILL !!! What a MINE-Field !!!
P.S. “Would you stay at a resort that has an iMac in every room?” – Only as a LAST RESORT !!! Wouldn’t want to be absorbed into Job’s “Reality Distortion Field” !!!
It would make me more likely to stay at the hotel but if it has the mighty mouse instead of a real mouse then count me out. I cannot stand the mighty mouse.
Such pessimism from everyone, it is a nice added feature mac or pc. Most of us would use our laptop anyway and so what is the big deal.
People still travel and stay in hotels…?
How 20th century.
I’d rather Camp in my car, and SAVE the $50-200 per day for GAS.
no
>>Most of us would use our laptop anyway and
>>so what is the big deal.
If it was a replacement for my laptop, I’d leave my laptop at home, and that would be a big plus.
If it’s just an infomercial for the hotel and a way to check out, I’d probably go somewhere else just on general principles. I really don’t give a fuck if I check out from the hotel on the TV, a PC, a Mac, at the front desk, or just leave without saying goodbye (they’ve got your credit card info, so they don’t care, and will send you the receipt).
It all depends upon whether this is really a value-added feature, or just a meaningless marketing ploy. Nobody really needs an iMac in the room just to summon room service or to check out in the morning.
#1….drive images. I presume Mac has this capability, but I’d also assume the machine is fairly well locked down.
I might play with such a machine, but I’d want a privacy guarantee. They’re not harvesting my email address, and they ARE flushing caches and such, right? Can Macs be used to visit naked girl sites? Because that might be a support issue, ya know. đ
And I’d sure as hell not pay any extra for it.
Only interesting if I could connect my own laptop (no matter what brand) and get free Internet access as part of the room charge. That’s common in a lot of hotels and motels these days.
>>Only interesting if I could connect my
>>own laptop (no matter what brand)
Why on earth would you want to network your laptop with the hotel’s in-room computer?
The only reason I can see for this being any kind of benefit at all is if it can serve as a REPLACEMENT, at least in a limited way, for bringing your own laptop along on the trip.
If I brought my own laptop, wtf would I need the iMac for? I’d just plug into the ethernet jack or connect to WiFi.
As a rule of thumb, I assume any courtesy PC at a hotel is infected with keystroke loggers. So using one to log on to any password protected service, such as email or banking, will result in your security being compromised.
I suspect there will be a full complement of gambling programs with a credit card scanner. Placed conveniently between the bed and the bathroom guests will be able gamble coming and going,
>>As a rule of thumb, I assume any courtesy PC >>at a hotel is infected with keystroke loggers.
Would that include those at hotel “business centers”, at Kinkos, packet-sniffers at Starbucks WiFi, etc.?
Man, you’re either doing some pretty secret stuff, or you’re paranoid.
Macs are #40 on stuff white people like. You guys could practically just link to that in lieu of your links.
Let’s see, you guys like
Farmer’s Markets, Organic Food, Diversity, Barack Obama, Hating Corporations, The Daily Show, Whole Foods, Toyota Prius, Knowing what’s Best for Poor People, recycling and threatening to move to Canada.
Do you guys also like Mos Def?
>>Letâs see, you guys like…
Lyin’ MikeN, as a card carrying White Guy, you must like that stuff too.
Do you also like Asian girls, New Balance shoes, and dinner parties? They’re on the list also.
No New Balance or dinner parties, but OK with The Wire.
Here’s exclusive video of a hotel that will feature PCs running Vista in every room.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r0fM31BXKk
Macs are pretty… that’s the only reason to make them the first choice for hotel (or any other publicly accessible) areas.
And they are easy to use… if you are not doing much. They are the choice of the computer ignorant and simple-minded, those that choose form over function.
Mac… a PC with permanently attached training wheels.
>>Mac⌠a PC with permanently attached training wheels
{snicker} A little closed-minded, are ya son?
I could care less. I always travel with a laptop. I think a lot of others do to.
>>I could care less. I always travel with a
>>laptop. I think a lot of others do to.
As do I. But if I were going to lose 1/2 year’s pay in Vegas, I might leave my laptop at home if I knew that they had a full-featured iMac in my hotel room. I take my laptop out of necessity, not because I enjoy carrying it around.
Next thing you know, we’ll have to start up the laptop, take out the battery, and all other kinds of nonsense to get through security. For Vista users, that will add at least 10 minutes per person getting to the gate. Multiply that by the number of people going through security at O’Hare or Philly, and you’re going to have to get there the night before in order to catch a 7am flight.
I can just imagine the headaches of trying to make this work. A lot of hotels have problems just keeping interactive movie’s and games going.
Now let’s see how many iMacs or whatever they choose walk out of the hotel??
Would that include those at hotel âbusiness centersâ, at Kinkos, packet-sniffers at Starbucks WiFi, etc.?
Yes, sort of. I trust Kinkos more than a hotel. Kinko’s locks down their machines very tight. And they are very proactive at keeping stuff off. In addition, the Kinkos machines are not available to non-paying customers. That too helps keep the riff-raff out.
However, even Kinkos has been busted for keystroke logging. The case I read about, it was a rouge employee. I don’t think that Kinkos itself does it. And this case may have been the reason Kinkos upgraded their lockdown systems.
Many of the machines I’ve seen at hotel business centers are terribly infected. The hotels do not have the time, experience, or concern about keeping their courtesy machines clean. Just for fun run a hotel’s machine against an online virus scan service. It will scare the hell out of you. I’ve seen this myself at many business hotels I’ve stayed at. I’m talking about nice, business class hotels here. Not Motel-6.
Regarding packet sniffing… I do not worry about that. That is entirely different from a keystroke logger. I use SSL when logging on to any service. So the packets are encrypted when they leave my laptop, no matter if it is a wired LAN or WiFi. For business, I use an SSL VPN connection.
For example, I always am sure to use the SSL version of GMAIL to make sure my mail is never transmitted in the clear. For Gmail, you have to specifically point to their HTTPS service for this. Otherwise, your Gmail web pages can be picked up by any packet sniffer (note: Gmail’s logon is secured).
Also, when using someone else’s machines in other countries, you should assume that your host nation’s intelligence services are snooping on your internet activity. The French were busted for doing this to foreign businessmen. And frankly, I would not be surprised to find the US does it too.
If you have a one-time password system (like Verisign has for PayPal), then you are safe against a keystroke logger since they password they capture will not work again.
I don’t think I am being paranoid, and I have nothing illegal or anything to be ashamed of. As a professional IT geek, I like to know what the vulnerabilities are. And I don’t like freely giving up my rights and privacy.
#30 – Well, I wouldn’t be doing anything that would affect national security in a Las Vegas hotel room anyway. Gmail is secure, and anything else I don’t give a shit about.
My “overarching” point in this thread was that if the iMac was a locked-down glorified advert system, I’d steer clear. If it was a real computer that did real computer stuff, it would certainly be a plus.