Hotels keep old things alive. Phones in the room. Actual land lines. There is still the occasional motel with a “Color TV” or “air conditioned” sign. I just saw a guy walk into the breakfast area with a newspaper. Some hotels provide the last refuge of that dying medium.

Hotel wifi is the latest fossil to hang on. I almost always have a carrier internet connection now. Hotel wifi is slow and clunky, and sometimes they charge for it — or offer “faster” connection to “honors” club members. My phone’s own connection is usually much better.

And then there is the TV news in the breakfast room. Nobody watches it. I have earbuds in now, with headphones to block the noise, plus a white noise generator. Ask to turn it off and you will discover that there is some engrained, on-high policy that it has to be on because “some customer might want it.” It is universally ignored. It is obtrusive background noise. What if some customer wants it off? Nope. Policy. Out of date, out of touch policy. That’s the hotel industry.