In-Flight Wi-Fi Makes its Debut

mindless4210 writes "German airline Lufthansa will become the first carrier to provide Boeing's Connexion service to its passengers. The service will be unveiled on May 17 on non-stop flights from Munich to Los Angeles, with plans to outfit their entire fleet over the next year. Passengers will be able to purchase access using their credit cards and Wi-Fi enabled laptops. The cost is set at $30 for the entire flight or $10 for 30 minutes."

Comments

I know it's bad form

[Anonymous Coward]

so I'm posting as AC, but this is not news. There was a test phase last year, a European roll-out early this year, etc. etc. I have submitted links to at least three stories about it over the past year, all rejected. I'm sure others have done the same. So are the various "story approvers" that radically different that they can't even agree on what is news? And is it just luck of the draw as to who gets to approve a given submission?

$10 for 30 mins?

[xintegerx]

Rant 1.
That's like you could give a female passenger next to you that much money to get the real thing. Why bother your own left-hand for $10? Just make sure she lets go when flying over states against gay marriage, just to be safe from state law in case the 'she' next to you is actually a he.

Also, imagine 80% of these business people ringing the bell because their laptops aren't connecting to the service. Imagine that instead a gentle stewardness, a guy named 'Bob' (a hairy computer nerd with a beer gut and beer goggles) comes out to help you!

Rant #2.
As business clientele tries to become more tech savvy, regular stewardesses will be slowly supplanted with geeks. I am sure that a business person who just paid $30 to use the Internet would rather have a techie help him figure out how to connect than a stewardess, right?

So, these regular employees are now being threatened by US, technology people, because OUR jobs have been taken. How funny is that? That's right, you think you can move our jobs? Well, the geeks won't die off, they will just take YOUR JOBS. Then of course, as all stewardesses have become techies, at that point, people will realize that we can replace these american techies with FOREIGN techies picked up in foreign airports in the morning and dropped off in that foreign airport in the evening (for intercontinental flights.) Just like american stewardesses live in america and fly back and forth then go home in America, the foreigners will do the same, but on our planes. We'll just pick them up in their home cities when our planes fly there, and they will end their shift when we land back in their country and they get off. :/

How much fun is that? :)

Re:Whole new world..

[Frizzle Fry]

Nothing you say has anything to do with what I wrote. I kept my response to three words, hoping that would avoid confusion, but it didn't. It's their airplane and if they want to outlaw wi-fi setups other than theirs, they can easily make that rule. You claimed that they wouldn't refuse to let you setup your own, and I strongly disagree. They will refuse to allow this. None of your discussion of enforcability is relevant to what I said, as I didn't make any claims about how or if they would enforce this rule. I'm pretty sure that setting up your own wi-fi network on a plane would not be allowed, so I don't see why them having their own network would change this.

Re:Whole new world..

[Frizzle Fry]

Today, they don't let you use electronics during takeoff and landing. What possible reason do they have not to let me use my gameboy or my discman? None. But they don't want to deal with certifying every possible piece of electronics that might or might not be safe because it's not worth the trouble and the risk of being wrong is so high. Similarly, anything involving broadcasting over radio frequencies is going to make them uncomfortable, unless it's the specific application they've set up.

My objection was to the original claim was that they "can't refuse to let you do this", as if this were some innate right that they were incapable of denying you. Which is why I said needed to point out that they of course can deny it if they want.

As for "What possible reason would they have to do this other then pure greed?" Isn't "pure greed" enough? They are providing you a way to have wireless that they have set up and verified is safe. You are trying to get around paying for it in a way that they are not confident is safe. They aren't going to like that.