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Cell Phones on Commercial Flights by 2006?
NetCurl writes "I heard the news on MPR's Marketplace today. Apparently the non-profit Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics is studying the effects of wireless and other portable communications devices on commercial airliners. I've already noticed that a couple airlines have loosened requirements on when you can use your cell phone on the ground. Is the next step wireless access in the cabin, and loud cell phone chatter in the skies over the mid-west?"
They will find some way to charge you for the privilege of using your own cel phone.
How is this any different from someone talking to the passenger sitting next to them? Airplanes aren't movie theaters where people are expected to sit stoically and quietly. Many people are social on airplanes and I don't see how this is any different at all.
Hmmm... screw cell phones, how about WiFi? I'd much rather have WiFi on a plane than a cell phone and other people using it wouldn't really bother me.
Feel free to mod me "-1 - Angry Jerk".
Since when did a Laptop, Gameboy or a Walkman become a triggering device on a weapon of mass destruction? I mean if the planes are so delicate should we really be flying in them? If all OSAMA needs is his sprintPCS, laptop, and a walkman turned on at takeoff to bring down a plane why didn't they try it long ago? What would freak out americans more then watching a plane crash every day? And if it was really a safty issue wouldn't they ban them from the cabin.. ala GUNS, KNIVES? The Generic reason given to turn all this stuff off at take off and landing is that it *MAY* interfer with ILS. Now I have a few tips on how to handle this. FIRST upgrade ILS.. if gameboy and walkmans are fuxing it then it needs to be upgraded.. there are several ways to get around this.. I mean if my CELL PHONE can connect me.. with a BILLON other CELL PHONES without jumping on to the wrong call then you think ILS could be upgraded to freqecny hop as well. Second what about some sheilding around the cabin? Wrap some tin foil around the cabin.. that seems to keep the aliens out of my head. Finally don't realy on ILS in the first place.. I know its tough being a pilot these days.. but put the damn drink down.. grab the big dealy between your legs and look out the shiny thing infront of you. If you can't handle it and need to get drunk on a flight buy a ticket and sit in the back with the rest of the damn drunks.
Why are everybody so strung up about this?
Are you all flying more than 100 times each year? Are all your flights transatlantic, or even longer? Are you so indespensible to your company that it would be a disaster if you were out of reach for some hours?
I fly a lot, and the last thing I need is sitting next to a jabbering idiot for hours without end. It's already a pain in cinema theaters and public places like restaurants.
If you happen to be a compulsive jabber, please consider your surroundings and get a phone that doesn't require you to SHOUT INTO IT.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
Boeing and Intel have been working with several airlines on installation of paid-access WiFi on commercial airliners. As for cell access ... even if it is determined that there is no safety threat (and there probably is not), cellphones aren't designed to work at 550 miles per hour and 40,000 feet in the air. They're flaky enough on the ground. They may work on approach or takeoff, but airliners don't waste any time getting to altitude, where engines operate more efficiently in the extremely cold air.
My thoughts exactly.
The main reason I prefer to fly between New York and DC rather than taking the train (total price and travel time are roughly equivalent) is that cell phones are not allowed on the plane.
There is sometimes a quiet car (no cell phones allowed) on Amtrak but not on all trains and enforcement is spotty.
If there were no similar provision on the plane then I'd probably just start driving it.
I cannot think of a greater annoyance than having to listen to half of other people's inane conversations screamed from every direction. It makes it impossible to think.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS