For the Technologically illiterate

This is for those of you who are unsure how to use the TV remote.

Hotels dumb down alarm clocks for weary guests

“Not satisfied with 150 models it tested, Hilton decided to custom-make its own alarm clock and ordered more than 200,000 of them this year for all of its hotels. Omni Hotels chose its new model based on tests that showed the alarm can be set in less than 20 seconds. Accor is also tossing out the old clocks at its Sofitel hotels.

Business travelers, fretting about early morning meetings or flights, have come to view hotel alarm clocks as a key travel tool and a source of anxiety. Often devoid of intuitive designs, LCD-display clocks have flummoxed guests for years with their “hold-button-while-pressing-another” features. Mixing in CD players and radios added to the confusion, and the advent of cell phones’ alarm features made hotel clocks less relevant. Some clocks didn’t work or blared in the wee hours of the morning as set by previous guests.”

Fortunately this has not been a problem for me. I haven’t required assistance such as this:

“The new models introduced by Hilton, Accor and Omni display two sets of time simultaneously, one for the alarm. They use specific words — on, off, AM and PM — instead of dots. Written instructions are inscribed prominently.”