It may be the two (2) 23 ounce beers I orders as “research” while on a 4 hour layover to Phoenix but I just cannot get over the experience the Minneapolis - St. Paul (MSP) airport has created via the OTG app and an iPad.

A 4 hour layover means I had some serious time to kill. I used the opportunity to do some research on a “digital meets physical” experience which resulted in not one but two 23 ounce Summer Shady beers being delivered to my post at the MSP airport.

Located directly next to my gate was a high-top table with a plug and an iPad stationed in front of me. I have seen this type of set up before but am usually in such a rush to make it to my gate, I just don’t bother.

With this extra time, I thought “why not”. I sat down, assessed what the iPad could do. Several news and social media options. No thanks, I have my own sources of entertainment.

Tons of ads passively scrolling by. With a camera on the device, I wonder if they are determining if I am an actual impression for those ads given they could hypothetically see that I wasn’t looking at the ad.

It has an option to choose your flight and it kept showing me that information however it failed to alert me when boarding started. Note to self: keep your head on a swivel the app isn’t going to keep you on time.

Last but certainty not least via the app you can order food/drink from a near by bar/kitchen. As mentioned above, I navigated through the app, ordered a Summer Shady and in no more than 5 minutes the cold refreshing beverage was in front of me.

In summary, when trying to squeeze more into a short layover, I will no longer see these experiences as a time suck.