The TechMobility Podcast
Welcome to The TechMobility Podcast, your ultimate source for authentic insights, news, and perspectives at the nexus of mobility and technology. We're all about REAL FACTS, REAL OPINIONS, and REAL TALK! From personal privacy to space hotels, if it moves or moves you, we're discussing it! Our weekly episodes venture beyond the conventional, offering a unique, unfiltered take on the topics that matter. We're not afraid to color outside the lines, and we believe you'll appreciate our bold approach!
The TechMobility Podcast
Driving the Lexus RX 450h+, Debating Data, and Ranking Airports
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Ken Chester guides us through the constantly changing world of automotive technology, surveillance issues, and travel infrastructure in this thought-provoking episode of the TechMobility Podcast.
The ongoing saga of Faraday Future continues as Ken examines their latest revival effort with an infusion of $105 million in funding. Eight years after unveiling their initial prototype, this EV manufacturer still faces significant challenges in ramping up production. While their Hanford, California, facility involves a $300 million investment, Ken offers perspective by comparing this to established automakers who typically invest billions in manufacturing infrastructure. His keen analysis questions whether Faraday Future can achieve their goals with their current financial backing or if they will join the growing list of EV startups that couldn't survive the harsh realities of automotive manufacturing economics.
Behind the wheel of the Lexus RX 450h Plus plug-in hybrid, Ken provides a detailed review highlighting both impressive features and unexpected flaws. From its comfortable interior and responsive handling to frustrating cruise control problems and overly aggressive driver monitoring systems, this review offers valuable insights for anyone considering this luxury crossover. Ken's assessment raises important questions about whether Lexus has become complacent in its pursuit of perfection as competitors continue to innovate.
The episode takes a concerning turn as Ken discusses how surveillance company Flock wants to partner with dash cam maker Nexar to access "trillions of images" from private vehicles. This raises serious privacy concerns as most consumers are unaware that their dash cam footage is being collected and sold to law enforcement agencies. Ken passionately advocates for stronger privacy protections and clear opt-out options for consumers whose personal data is being monetized without explicit consent.
What makes for an exceptional airport experience? Ken examines the Washington Post's ranking of America's best airports, revealing surprising insights about what travelers truly value. From Portland's unique character to Salt Lake City's practical amenities, the discussion highlights how thoughtful design choices can greatly enhance the travel experience.
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Speaker 3:I'm Ken Chester On the docket. On the docket, my impressions and a review of the Lexus RX 450h Plus plug-in hybrid SUV flocks trillions of images and the best airports in America. To join the conversation, be it to ask a question, share an opinion or even suggest a topic for future discussion. Call or text the TechMobility hotline. Suggest a topic for future discussion. Call or text the Tech Mobility hotline that number, 872-222-9793,. Or you can email the show directly. Talk at techmobilityshow From the Tech Mobility News Desk.
Speaker 3:I want to talk about an EV manufacturer that's like the proverbial phoenix it seems that it constantly rises from the ashes and won't die. I'm talking about, of course, faraday Future, if you're a long-time listener to the program. We've talked at length about Faraday Future, its trials and tribulations, its attempt to bring cars to market. They showed their first prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show Act eight years ago, in 2017. And since then, they've ran out of money, got funded, got reorganized, ran out of money, laid everybody off, bought a plant, closed the plant, opened the plant, but right now they are building something called the FX Super 1 and are building it in their plant in Hanford, california, which, for the record, was a former tire manufacturing plant. In case you were wondering, I got this piece from the EV report, which they're overly optimistic about a lot of stuff, so I have to temper what they say. When they say stuff like, um, uh, friday future, a California based leader in intelligent electric mobility, yeah, no, they're an EV manufacturer. They've been trying to get the scale for years. They've built a few vehicles, but volume-wise, yeah, no, no, uh-uh. Pretty much any automaker right now makes more vehicles in a couple hours than Faraday Future has made in the last eight years. This is the dark side of EV manufacturing. But they're not dead yet and they're talking about their newest vehicle and they've started on what they call trial production and what that is.
Speaker 3:Most manufacturers will build what they call a body in white. It's an unpainted body where they build the vehicle by hand to verify and quantify that everything that's supposed to go in a vehicle first of it fits you can build it, that it works the way it's supposed to. So it's not. It's not untypical for automotive journalists like me to occasionally come into contact from time to time with several built, hand-built prototypes that they've released early in the press, fleets that will never see retail sale, but they wanted us to experience it and they'll tell you. This is a production model. It's not the final, final and they'll build different varieties of pre-production models. They'll build a real early one, which might be P-3 all the way to P-0, getting a little better and getting everything tweaked before it actually goes into production.
Speaker 3:Faraday Future is in that mode right now with their latest vehicle. They're talking in a Hannaford facility $300 million invested and that they have the ability at full strength to build 30,000 vehicles annually. If you've been following me and you've been paying attention when I talk about the auto industry, 30,000 vehicles is a drop in the bucket. That's less than a week of F-150s being built easily. You know Ford builds more F-Series trucks in a week than Faraday Futures looking in a year. Even Lucid now and Rivian build more vehicles and Rivian build more vehicles. But, to be honest with you, we talked about I laughed at Tesla back in 2018 when they were introducing the Model 3. Tesla was in the same situation. They had built less than 100,000 vehicles in the previous 14 years of their existence and they were talking about building and selling a half a million a year. Needless to say, between the Model X, the Model Y, the Model 3, and the Cybertruck. Yeah, they build a lot of vehicles, but they do it in four plants around the world. They don't do it in one plant anymore.
Speaker 3:Will Faraday Future ever get to scale? That's the big question because honestly, to be blunt with you, 300 million dollars is no money. In the auto industry, shoot, chrysler was spending that kind of money just to design a new front end cap back in the late 1980s for their k cars cost them a quarter of a million dollars in jigs and dies just to put a new front end on the thing. So $300 million ain't much. And they're talking another $105 million in financing. Let me give you a comparison Lucid Air, which is also a small-time EV manufacturer, but they're ramping up and they're building more cars than Faraday Future. They got money backstopping them in the billions. So does Rivian in the billions, and neither one of them. Folks are building half a million cars a year. Rivian isn't lucid, isn't? They're ramping up, but they're not building that kind of volume.
Speaker 3:Faraday Future has got a money problem still. If you think that a facility with just $300 million is going to get it done, no. If you think $100 million is going to get you to market, no, it's not. Multiply that times 10, and you're starting to get an idea. Because they still have to to. In order to sell in the United States, they have to do a bunch of validation and I don't know. I know, on imports, there is a limit of 10,000 vehicles. If you are importing less than 10,000, there are certain waivers you can get. So I don't know if Faraday Future is under the waiver number, but if they're not, they're going to be spending millions of dollars just making it, just proving that you know that it meets all federal motor vehicle safety standards, that right there would eat a million, two million. You know, a hundred million, two hundred million dollars right there. But the thing they're going to get there they really do.
Speaker 3:In this article it talks about the facility supports mixed line manufacturing enabling the assembly of multiple models, including the FX lineup, to meet diverse market demands. Ok, diverse market commands. That's being objective and optimistic. They don't build that many quote unquote market demands. They don't build that many quote unquote market demands. No, it's people who want something different, that are willing to take a chance, that know this company's history, because they've got history. None of it good. Let me read this for you Faraday Future recently secured $105 million financing commitment, providing critical funding to support the FX Super 1 launch. This investment underscores investor confidence in the company's vision to deliver innovative AI-driven electric vehicles to a broader market. No, $100 million. No, that barely gets you in the door. Mark my words.
Speaker 3:For Faraday Future to get this to market, they're going to need at least $800 to $900 million more to actually get it produced and, to my knowledge, they don't have dealers. What about a robust parts network, repair network? All that costs money. As you're ramping up, people need to be able to get their vehicles adjusted, get problems resolved. Their engineering and safety testing says this.
Speaker 3:The company aims to deliver a vehicle that redefines the luxury MPV segment, challenging traditional models like the Cadillac Escalade. Arlington, texas, just got a billion dollar upgrade upgrade and they're getting ready to move the electric versions of the Escalade to a whole new plant. Trust me when I tell you GM spent way more money than that. So we'll see. I'm surprised. We talked about Faraday Future, but here we are. They got some money, but I can tell you it's not enough. So the question is, will they pull another rabbit out of a hat, or will they end up like Fisker? Remember Fisker? You probably don't, but they made the Fisker Ocean and they actually built 20,000 of them before they went out of business, and that was his second go-round. The Lexus RX plug-in hybrid offers motorists the best of three worlds. My impressions are. Next, you are listening to the Tech Mobility Show.
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Speaker 3:To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show.
Speaker 5:The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country.
Speaker 3:Keep up with the happenings at the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow.
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Speaker 5:All cars have headlights to illuminate the road ahead, but Lexus has developed a headlight that actually rotates up to 15 degrees to reveal what's around the bend before you get to the bend. What kind of a difference can 15 degrees make?
Speaker 3:A very noticeable one that was a commercial for a 2004 lexus rx. Lexus rx had been in the market roughly five years by that time. And here's the funny thing that what they call adaptive front lighting that turns was actually invented originally in 1948 you ready for this by preston tucker, if you've heard of the tucker automobile. The tucker automobile actually had a oscillating third light in the middle that turned with the wheels. And here we are pretty much all your luxury cars have it now. And it was a big deal back in 2004, if you can imagine. And for the record, that television commercial was set in these deep, dark woods on a dark two lane. And what did he see? Because his lights turned, a deer and baby deer in the middle of the road that he was able to see in time and stop. He didn't hit him. So, yeah, they wanted to pull up the heartstrings too and, you know, get you all in on that safety feature. It was effective.
Speaker 3:The lexus rx is the automaker's most popular suv. In its lineup, rx, which stands for radiant crossover, was developed from an idea, concept a crossover between a luxury sedan and an suv which has roots all the way back to 1993. The original rx 300 was introduced to the marketplace in march 1998 as a compact luxury crossover suv. In 2003, the lexus rx became the first lexus model suv model to be manufactured outside of Japan, with the North American market versions produced at Toyota's manufacturing plant in Cambridge, ontario, canada. The RX also moved up from compact to midsize crossover SUV platform at that time. Rx hybrid manufacturing was added to the plant in 2014. The first RX hybrid model, known as the RX 400H, was first unveiled in the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The production RX hybrid was introduced the next year as a 2006 model. The RX 400H became the first production premium hybrid vehicle in the North American marketplace at that time. The current, or fifth, generation of the RX was introduced back in 2022. Building on that all-new redesign of the iconic crossover vehicle, lexus added a plug-in hybrid to the electrified lineup Introduced in 2024,.
Speaker 3:The Lexus RX 450h Plus offers standard luxury elements, intuitive technology and thoughtful in-cabin features. While the RX family encompasses a variety of powertrain options, including gasoline hybrid and plug-in hybrid, this review is focused on the RX 450h Plus plug-in hybrid model. Power for the RX plug-in hybrid is generated by a combination of a 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, two electric motors one for each axle and a lithium-ion battery pack. Combined, the powertrain makes 304 horsepower. Torque is communicated to all four wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission. Epa fuel economy numbers are 36. City 33. Highway. Cargo capacity is 46.2 cubic feet. Towing capacity is just under 3,500 pounds when equipped with trailer brakes.
Speaker 3:So here's what I liked about the Lexus RX. First, the obvious this is a silently built SUV with Toyota Lexus bona fides. The RX is smooth and responsive at speed. The RX is easy to handle and maneuver when underway and, as you would expect, the plug-in hybrid delivers above average fuel economy for a vehicle of its size. Combined with a large infotainment screen, a cavernous cargo area, fog lights and a surround view camera, it's easy for a driver to become spoiled. Add to that a quiet cabin, comfortable seating, wide opening doors and plenty of leg room. The rear seat will even carry three adults in a pinch. There's a decent amount of storage space throughout the passenger cabin, which is great when you're trying to go somewhere with more than one person to be able to put stuff.
Speaker 3:Here's what I didn't like about the Lexus RX. First of all, pet peeve Number one pet peeve the absence of a spare tire, and then the arrangement of the multifunction buttons on the steering wheel Uh-uh, no, some automakers are trying to do that with different things. And multifunction buttons on the steering wheel Uh-uh no, uh-uh, no, some automakers are trying to do that with different things. And it comes up in the screen. I find it confusing and hard to use. Then here's something that I found that seemed to be an issue with most new Toyota-slash-Lexuses I've been driving over the past year or two what I call the Toyota-specific inability of the vehicle to actually operate at the set cruise control speed. I don't know why that is. If I set it at 72, I want it to run at 72. If I set it at 68, I want it to run at 68. It will get in the case of 68, 66, 67. Can't get it to 68. And it's happened with more than one Toyota model. So I'm not sure what the deal is, but it's very maddening.
Speaker 3:Speaking of maddening, it's this aggravating what I call nanny state level of the driver monitoring system. This alone would be enough reason for me not to buy it, because it's often assumed that I didn't have my eyes in the road. It kept telling me to keep my eyes in the road. My eyes were always in the road, hands on the steering wheel. Hands were always in the steering wheel and it kept and it would turn the radio down and bing and it would flash on the screen and it'd be very, very aggravating and very, very wrong.
Speaker 3:Something else that I've noticed you'll notice an increasing number of vehicles have what they call a speed limit indicator, which looks like, you know, a speed limit sign on your dashboard. I am finding more and more, particularly in Toyotas, that it's wrong. It's very often wrong. Even when the sign's been posted and the vehicle drove past it, it doesn't necessarily change. And then I've got a stretch of road and there's no change in speed and there's no change in the road, but for some reason, for about 150 yards the speed limit indicator drops to 25 miles an hour. But it's a 45 mile an hour zone through the whole thing. There's no construction, no, nothing. Why it does that, I do not know, but yeah, at lower speeds it's often wrong more times than it's right. It's very frustrating. The split fold down rear seats don't fold flat with the cargo floor and there's no retained accessory power.
Speaker 3:Now the last thing and I admit this is subjective I'm finding that new Lexus's now feature what I call bland interior styling, as if Lexus doesn't seem to feel special anymore. Fully capable, unflappable and comfortable, yes, but not upscale luxury. So here's my bottom line the Lexus RX 450h Plus performs like well, a Lexus. The wow factor, styling, seems to be lacking, and I mentioned a list of shortcomings and dislike that are quite surprising at this price point. But it does beg the question, however. Has Lexus grown content, I wonder? I really wonder. Didn't seem to be that way in a relentless pursuit of perfection? I wonder if they just decided that they've gone as far as they want to go. It's unfortunate because other automakers are trying harder. There was a time when Lexus owned the field. It was Lexus, cadillac, lincoln and the Germans. That's not the case anymore. Everybody's stepping, stepping up, including vehicles that weren't necessarily luxury. Flock is looking to partner with the consumer dash cam company for access to trillions of images.
Speaker 3:another case of you as the product.
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Speaker 3:Visit pincommunityorg Ben Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. Each week I upload a few short videos of some of the hot topics that I cover during my weekly radio program. I've designed these videos to be informative and entertaining. It's another way to keep up on current mobility and technology news and information. Be sure to watch, like and subscribe to my channel. That's the Tech Mobility Show on YouTube. Check it out on YouTube. Check it out. 404.
Speaker 3:Media reports that Flock, the surveillance company with automatic license plate reader cameras in thousands of communities in the United States, is looking to integrate with a company that makes AI-powered dash cams placed inside personal cars. The move could significantly increase the amount of data available to Flock and, in turn, its law enforcement customers. This is another case of you as the product. This is topic B. Now, full disclosure. Let me stop right here. I need to say this First of all, we're talking about cameras that are bought as extra aftermarket equipment. These are not cameras that are coming from the factory, from the automaker, already installed in your car. Let me give you an example. If you are on YouTube and, like me, and you see all these crash videos that you're always watching, where they've got the dash cam. Chances are, if they've got a Nexar dash cam, then that's what we're talking about. But honestly, it's people who have bought them supposedly for their own protection, not realizing that they were actually providing data without their knowledge or permission. Looks like to this company to sell to law enforcement, whosoever will. I'm not okay with that. And here's another thing I'm not okay with.
Speaker 3:Flock's primary business is based on stationary cameras that community or law enforcement agencies purchase and have installed in their neighborhoods. In my town, in the suburb of Altoona, just outside of Des Moines, we've got three sets I know of. That was put in a couple summers ago. The city never said a word to us about them, but they're there collecting data. Whether it's legal or not probably isn't, but they're collecting data and they're selling and aggregating this data. Do so ever will. What happened to personal privacy people? I'm not okay with that.
Speaker 3:Nexar, right now, right now, the company that makes the dash cams actually publishes a live map of photos taken by its users and sells data from them already, right now. I need to emphasize again these are not factory installed cameras. Yeah, you've got front cameras, side cameras, rear cameras, surround cameras in your car. I'm not talking about those. I'm not talking about those. I'm talking about the aftermarket cameras somebody would buy as a dash cam. That's what I'm talking about. And this company, nexar, that collects all that data from all those of its dash cams in all those vehicles. Now, of course, they don't market it that way. They market it to you, as you know security protection documentation, things like that. What they're doing behind your back is selling it to cities, law enforcement and customs and immigration. They sell them to them. 404 Media previously reported that local police perform immigration-related flock lookups for ICE and recently that Customs and Border Protection had direct access to flock systems. We reported on that here a number of months ago. The company describes it as crowdsourced vision, showing the company is willing to leverage data beyond individual customers in using the cameras I'm talking about Nexar to protect themselves in the event of an accident.
Speaker 3:What happened to personal privacy? What happened to being a quote-unquote private citizen? It's bad enough. You got Nest cameras in neighborhoods. They're capturing stuff. You've got Nexar cameras that you're paying for to put in your car.
Speaker 3:That is capturing data and of course, there's no narrative. It sees what it sees and may not necessarily be true what it sees, and that is assuming that people who are authorized to have access to this data are the only ones that do. But when you have this, it's too tempting. It's too tempting. The data is there and available. There are no laws that say we're going to keep this secure. We're going to limit access to this data. We are going to make sure that only these authorized people have access to it and that they're going to only use it in this way. And, more importantly, I don't even know how you opt out of this. I'm not even sure there's a way for you to opt out, to tell Nexar don't use my data. Don't use what you find on my camera. I don't want it used. Purge it Again. We are wanting for federal laws when it comes to personal privacy and security.
Speaker 3:Relative to the average American citizen, big data is getting information any way it can and selling it to whomever will, for better or for worse. And don't tell me for one minute that you don't think some of this is going to get into the hands of bad actors somehow. Where are the federal laws? Where are the guidelines? Where are the guardrails? Where is the opportunity to opt out if you want to, to protect your privacy, protect your family? There aren't any and Flock wants in. They want all of this.
Speaker 3:The part that keeps bothering me is people pay Nexar to buy their cameras and I don't know that if Nexar is disclosing what they're doing with the data in fact, that the data is actually going to them, that they're recording I wonder if the average dash cam owner knows that. I'm wondering if Nexar is even required by any kind of law federal or state to disclose that they're doing this. This is how we use your data and this is how you opt out. And if it is, it's buried so deep in the end user agreement that you'd never find it anyway. In all that small print, if it's even there, find it anyway. In all that small print, if it's even there, data is what's being bought and sold. You are the data.
Speaker 3:In the United States, we have been woefully lacking at protecting our citizens against big data and using our personal information for and against us and for and against other people. It's not okay. It's never been okay and this has always been a pet peeve on this program, because I read stuff like this and I'm like are you serious right now? Where's our protection? Where's our help? In case you're wondering oh, ken, you're, you're going overboard, am I let me remind you of something we talked about, a previous story where they were planning to use hacked data in a new product called nova to help police jump from license plate readers to a person specifically, including friends and family, and only after it was uncovered they shelved the plans. And in case you're wondering, even with these cameras that people are buying, they said that Next Car customers drive 150 million miles a month, creating trillions of images. Did I mention people pay for those cameras?
Speaker 3:And there's nothing in here that says that people have the ability to opt out or people even are aware that this is happening. It's not okay. Just because they can don't mean you should let them, and if you decide to let them, honestly, you should be cut in for some of the money, I think. But you should have the choice and that, I think, is the biggest issue right now. You should have the choice. You should be the one that says either it's okay or it's not okay. What makes an airport special? We take a look at what ranking of one commercial airports in the United States. We are the Tech Mobility Show.
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Speaker 3:To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show.
Speaker 5:The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country.
Speaker 3:Keep up with the happenings at the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow.
Speaker 2:In business opportunity doesn't wait, and neither should you. At Playbook Investors Network, we connect visionary entrepreneurs with the strategies, resources and capital they need to win. Whether you're launching, scaling or reimagining your business, our network turns ambition into measurable success. Your vision deserves more than a plan. It deserves a playbook that works. Playbook Investors Network, where bold ideas meet bold results. Visit pincommunityorg today.
Speaker 3:Did you know that TechMobility has a YouTube channel? Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the TechMobility Show. Each week I upload a few short videos of some of the hot topics that I cover during my weekly radio program. I've designed these videos to be informative and entertaining. It's another way to keep up on current mobility and technology news and information. Be sure to watch, like and subscribe to my channel. That's the Tech Mobility Show on YouTube. Check it out.
Speaker 3:So I gotta ask you, what do you think makes for a good airport? There are many factors that could go into that determination, eg. Visit of access, short distance to your departure or arrival gate and your alliance or security. The Washington Post recently asked 2,300 of its readers to rank approximately 450 airports in the United States. Question is bigger, always better. This is Topic C.
Speaker 3:I recently did a little traveling via airports and one of the biggest advantages for the trip we had to make was the fact we could catch a direct flight from Des Moines, iowa. We had to make was the fact we could catch a direct flight from Des Moines, iowa and, in case you wondered if that was a big deal, the trip we had to cover was from Des Moines to Boston, massachusetts to Logan International Airport. For me to drive that distance from here would be 22 and a half hours. The direct flight to Boston took two hours 28 minutes. Need I say more? Now, logan is not on this list and I understand why. There's a lot of walking and I'm not feeling the walking. But they talked about a lot of stuff, and aviance is some of it. Pricing of the food that you can buy there also some of it. But they looked at things that I don't typically look to Like. For example, they talked about people love light-filled spaces and soaring ceilings. You know what I want to clean? I want to get there, deal with it, get on a plane, get off the plane. That's all I want. They also looked at, in trying to figure this out, some 450,000 Yelp reviews for airport shops, restaurants and the buildings themselves. Now I mentioned 450 airports. The other requirement is those 150 airports had to serve at least 1,000 passengers in 2024. They narrowed it to 50.
Speaker 3:We'll talk about the top 10. And it's an interesting combination and and I want to comment on some of them, I'm just going to run through these. Number 10 was detroit metro, and I remember a time when detroit metro was not okay, and it's been a while since I've flown through detroit, but here's the thing, and I just give you this excerpt detroit gets high marks for tall ceilings and provide an airy, roomy, spacious feel, along with plentiful windows and loads of natural light. People I want to get there, get through, get on my plane and go. As long as it's not, and if it's clean and it's orderly, okay, I'm not trying to stay there that long.
Speaker 3:Number nine Salt Lake City International. I flew through Salt Lake about two to three years ago in the middle of their construction, and right then at that time, it was not okay. But now, now that it's over, the airport calls itself the new SLC because it's a total rebuild and it started in 2020. Like I said, I came through in the middle of all that and they've got one more phase that will be completed next year. But here's some stuff Now. Here's some stuff that I can relate to, and they're all practical considerations.
Speaker 3:Passengers are never more than 150 feet from a restroom. Imagine. Trust me, it's important. Each seat at a gate, each one has a place to plug in and charge. Thank you, salt Lake City. And families waiting to welcome loved ones or say goodbye could gather outside security, in the greeting room with a fireplace and comfy furniture. I like that. That's pretty cool. I have not remembered going from Salt Lake into downtown. They say it's close, but yeah, those kind of things I'm down with. I'm not feeling the artwork that they love and all that. But public transportation direct to the airport, love it, love it, love it.
Speaker 3:Number eight Indianapolis. I haven't been to Indianapolis in a long time. Indianapolis, I haven't been to Indianapolis in a long time. But they boil it down to two words Easy, everything, easy everything. It's easy to get in, easy to get out, it's just easy. It's easy to go to. I like that. I can do that For y'all down in Albuquerque. You're rated number seven on this survey and I haven't had the privilege of going through the Albuquerque. You're rated number seven on this survey and I haven't had the privilege of going through the Albuquerque International Sunport. But let me read this Few airports embody their location more than the Sunport. A study in southwestern aesthetic the adobe-style terminal feels as if it belongs in a local pueblo rather than a gateway to New Mexico. I could do that. I like that. We'll see. And they say it's five miles from City Hall. Wow, okay. Yeah, I'm going to have to come there sometime. Now this one. I grew up in New England, I grew up in Massachusetts. I have never flown out of this next airport ever.
Speaker 3:Number six Rhode Island's TF Green International. Out of Providence, they're touting this as a different or a alternative to Logan in Boston. To me, an alternative is Manchester, new Hampshire, as an alternative to Logan, and I've been through Manchester. The problem is, though, when you look at these alternative airports, you need to find out who's flying in and out of them, and right now, the only airline that's got a hub there, a growing base, it's called Breeze Airways. Never heard of them, so you know, coming from Iowa, getting to Rhode Island, not so much.
Speaker 3:Number five Seattle-Painfield. This is not the main airport, is not sea tack. This is a little airport north of seattle that they love. That, they said, looks like, feels like an exclusive private club, but it's an airport. And here's the kicker alaska and frontier both fly out of there, and you can make connections to las vegas, phoenix, denver and Hawaii. Yep, that's what I want to do.
Speaker 3:Number four is Minneapolis-St Paul International. Been there, got stories, it's not bad, it's okay. Gets it done, they say, the amenities of a metropolis with a small airport field. No, I never thought Minneapolis-St Paul was small, but it is an easy airport to operate and you can find food there and it's not that hard. And yeah, they've got a dedicated public transportation goes right to the airport from downtown, so that's good.
Speaker 3:Number three me and the Washington Post are going to strongly disagree about this one. Number three believe it or not, is Ronald Reagan at Washington National Airport? No, me and them. No. I've been through that airport in the last couple of years and I have nothing nice to say about it. Long walks, very unfriendly. No, no, I don't know what terminal they went through, but I guess because of its proximity to downtown DC, on the banks of the Potomac, which is its blessing and its curse, because from the runway you can actually see the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, which is cool. But beyond that, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. A short walk to most gates no, I thought I had to pack a lunch. No, no, we're going to disagree on that one.
Speaker 3:Number two long beach. Never been there. They said. 11 gates, three airlines. It's easy to get into and you don't have to fool with lax. Number one I'm going fast for a reason. Portland international. They say keep Portland weird. Yeah, I can understand why Portland would be a favorite, because it's just the unique thing that goes on up there. So, yeah, this airport has fun and wants you to do the same. Not surprised at all. That is the vibe, really, of Portland, oregon in a word. So I can totally appreciate that. New York airport, newark definitely ain't on the list. Boston's not on the list, although SFO, san Francisco International, is at number 22. We're going to talk about that one, because I've been through SFO and in the mornings you don't fly. That's it for this edition of the Tech Mobility Show. I'm Ken Chester. Thanks for making us part of your day. Until next time, keep moving forward at the speed of technology.
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