(Answer requested by Jonathan Morrone)
There can be myriad reasons, but here are two very important ones:
- Many restaurants (and airport terminals, hotels, public building, etc.) were designed and built before everyone started carrying power-hungry smartphones! It’s expensive to re-do electrical systems (especially where liquids will be handled, served, and — inevitably — spilled, as in a restaurant); so, to control costs, retrofitting abundant, safe, charger-friendly outlets usually waits until a planned major reconstruction is going to open up the building’s walls and floors anyway.
- It’s not in most restaurants’ interests to have customers linger much beyond their actual consumption of paid-for food or drink; the restaurant would much rather have you leave so the next customer can be seated and served. 🙂
Permalink: https://langa.com/?p=3563
![[seperator]](https://i0.wp.com/langa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SEPERATOR-short-grey.png?resize=104%2C6)
COMMENT / QUESTION on THIS ITEM? See the Comment box at bottom of this page!
NEW QUESTION? Ask here!
(Want free notification of new content? Click here!)
Though not directly on point, Mr Morrone might want to consider this current news item – “Public charging stations help smartphone users, but also open a new avenue for hacking.”
https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/internet-viruses-charge-public-power-stations-article-1.1422680
Good point. Unless you bring your own usb cord and charger, you really don’t know what you’re feeding your phone. Public power is like public WiFi: Shady businesses or persons can misuse it; responsible businesses and users have to defend against misuse.
Maybe I’m weird, but I go to restaurants to eat…
I have heard chefs commenting on this topic. They tend to say that they want their customers to immerse themselves in the eating experience. At good restaurants, so much time and care goes into preparing the food it really does seem silly that someone will be doing phone/laptop business there.
This is, of course, different for fast food, “just give me something to eat” places. They probably don’t want you to pay much attention to the quality of the food. But they make their money through quantity. They need to turn tables several times a shift. So they also don’t want people spending an hour sitting at a table that could be generating income with another two customers. So why spend money to enable behavior you don’t particularly want?
People too often take for granted the service of providing electricity for devices. We have become accustomed to the idea that everyone ought to be willing to recharge our electrical/electronic devices for free. Electricity costs money. Even more so, the space and equipment required costs money.
If there is no direct income generated from people recharging their devices, it only makes sense for a restaurant to provide this service if (a) people will come buy a meal there who would not otherwise come; or (b) people will buy extra items (e.g., dessert) if the service is available. Currently it does not seem that people choose their eating places based on electrical availability (though some may choose a wi-fi-enabled place). So unless people start to go to restaurants based on electrical availability (unlikely) this is unlikely to change.
Again, it is different for coffee shops, internet cafe’s and fast food joints. I would imagine that someone choosing a fast food meal is more likely in a hurry to leave, not to sit while their phones recharge.