American peculiarities

Having just returned with wife and kids from a trip to Florida (to soak up a bit of sun, dolphins and alligators), I thought about a few things on the plane. First off: To lock a public restroom you just press a button on the doorknob. Pretty cool and easy to figure out. But why don't I get any indication that it's actually locked? In most places in Europe a small red tab will show itself on the door somewhere to indicate it is occupied. I felt quite insecure and certain that someone would barge in on me anytime.

Another observation: I was a bit worried that the car we rented didn't have GPS navigation. As it turned out, I needn't worry at all (interesting that we've come to this: in the good old days (10 years ago - i.e. pre-Garmin and TomTom) I was never worried that I should get lost). We got a map from Hertz which basically just showed the major roads in Miami (something like this)- and I thought that we would be totally lost because details on the map where sketchy at best. All roads where clearly marked and even showed numbers corresponding to the map. How is that for user friendly?

On a side note which has got nothing to do with user friendliness but everything with user experience: Our hotel in Miami, was quite nice, as was our somewhat cheaper stay in Sarasota in Holiday Inn on Lido Beach. The more expensive Miami hotel charged for internet access!!! $5 an hour!!! When will these people learn? I never make phone calls from the hotel room because they over-charge. And now this. If I was travelling on business I might have considered signing up, but frankly this hotel was not a business venue (as far as I could tell from the location). Ridiculous - I just waited for the next (and cheaper, mind you!) hotel where internet access was free.

PS: I finally got my hands on a touch screen device for own personal abuse (iPod touch). Will get back to you on that.