• 6. call reception and ask for a wake up call - Hanan Cohen

hotel alarm clock

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When a hotel alarm clock requires its own instruction sheet it's probably not the best choice. For that matter, why should ANY alarm clock require instructions to use?

Tim Smalley, *JESS3, stefanc7, and M*rten added this photo to their favorites.

  1. Robert S. Donovan 59 months ago | reply

    What was Sony thinking here?

  2. formalfallacy @ Dublin (Victor) 59 months ago | reply

    is a cd player, a karaoke machine, does the washing and also tells the time, apparently!

  3. viajvia 59 months ago | reply

    Heheh, that's a good point.
    Step 1 to 5, it does seem insane.

  4. Tim Smalley 59 months ago | reply

    That's amazing! Can't believe it.

  5. bkofford 59 months ago | reply

    I usually take one of those Oregon Scientific clocks with me that set themselves off the atomic clock in Colorado.

    Most of them will run just fine for several months to a couple of years on 2 AA batteries, and since I use it for my alarm clock oat home, too, I don't have to worry about whether I'm setting it up correctly to actually wake me up on time.

    Then I can ignore whatever clock is in the room, along with whatever time it might be set to.

    I've been to one hotel that required you to put one of your room keys in a slot neat the door to turn the power on to the room. This meant that the clock was always flashing twelve whenever someone checks in.

  6. Webslog 59 months ago | reply

    We can put a man on the moon and cram a whole FM radio station into a lil plastic box, but we still haven't cracked the code of a well-designed clock-radio (a code which apparently was developed by bunch of angry LED vendors in league with a State-run Design Corrective and codified by feeding the meeting minutes into Google Translation). The mind reels.

  7. orangelica 59 months ago | reply

    that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen

  8. raisinsawdust - (aka: withaneyephotography) 59 months ago | reply

    Dude - i own that radio - it is very difficult to operate - so it is in my garage!

    --
    Seen on your photo stream. (?)

  9. conductor1991 59 months ago | reply

    I have a clock/radio/noise maker (can't remember the manufacturer) that has the snooze button about 3/8" away from the alarm off button. About once a month I hit the off button while groping for the snooze button.

    It has two alarms - sort of. The number 1 alarm is a radio only alarm. I don't use this one any more as it powers on to what ever volume the radio was last playing at. After not hearing it several times because the volume dial got bumped down I gave up using it.

    The number 2 alarm is for the buzzer or any of the four white noise sounds it makes. To set either alarm you have to hold down the numbered alarm button for about 30 seconds until the main screen changes to show the alarm time. Then you have to push an unmarked button repeatedly for each minute you wish to advance. Then you have to push the Enter button (no joke) to save the time. If you push the Snooze or Off buttons (adjacent to the Enter button) it deletes your new time and the only way you know you got it right is to go back into alarm set mode to see what was recorded. Of course the instructions that came with the clock had none of this explained.

  10. scanna283 58 months ago | reply

    i know - what a mess, the hotel should pick better clocks IMO

  11. Big Dub 58 months ago | reply

    The flip side is that most alarm clocks in hotels hard to set and they don't provide instructions - at least the hotel is trying to give you a leg up. Maybe they couldn't find a better clock radio (that they could get in bulk) and figured they could ease the pain with the info card.

  12. ggirton 58 months ago | reply

    In a hotel, who wouldn't use the wake-up call facility? That clock is there just for appearance -- and you must admit it looks good, kind of like it is smiling at us!

  13. paul's parking 58 months ago | reply

    My mobile phone alarm clock is the only thing i'll ever need or use. it has a number pad on it :)

  14. exit_zero 58 months ago | reply

    Sad thing is that Sony does make a great little clock: bit.ly/2DAx39 -- it's not an alarm clock, though, so I guess it doesn't count. But I've purchased probably 4 of these things (and I'm about to get another one) -- simply because I like having them handy wherever I go in/around the house. They're so good, I've hooked (2) other people on them -- and they each have multiples, too.

    But I agree -- this hotel alarm clock is hideous. I ran into one of these in a hotel in NYC a few months back and simply unplugged it and requested a wake-up call.

  15. Mark Hurst 58 months ago | reply

    For years I've relied on my (well-designed) Casio G-Shock watch, which I write about in Uncle Mark.

  16. stefanc7 58 months ago | reply

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called usabilityweb, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  17. Knobby Wheezer [deleted] 55 months ago | reply

    We unplugged it, too, and used the wind-up travel alarm clock that I carry with me in luggage.

    I prefer no batteries at all when travelling.. I will set my clock to my watch (wind-up also) and set the alarm by [gasp] pulling up the button. My watch and my clock are analogue. But, I also have an astigmatism that makes LED displays very hard to read---hands on a round face are easier for me.

    At home, though, I have 2 of those radio controlled clocks (one on each of the 2 walls that allows a signal) and they and the rest of the clocks in the house run on rechargeables---and none of the clocks are digital read out (too hard to read). Well, all except my alarm clock---it's a wind-up analogue, too. Why have it running all the time when I only need it to work for about 6 hours (wind lasts for 39 hours). Just wind it up the night I need it, set the time, set the alarm, wind the alarm 1 crank and pull the button up. On days that I don't work, the clock is silent.

  18. zevobh 54 months ago | reply

    Does it do the dishes? have a Wy-Fi connector? maybe it can clean the floors, and is it a spare shower? Oh it is probably a bed to!

  19. philohme 48 months ago | reply

    Ironically, what I consider to be the best design for an alarm clock is also SONY-branded! Pics and description of it start at

    Its quite different than the original one in this post. Wish they still made these...

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