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U.S. Airlines to Offer In-Air Wi-Fi

Posted by Zonk on from the careful-stewardess-i-am-blogging-this dept.

"Within the next year, US Airlines are going to be offering Wi-Fi service onboard flights. VoiP calls will be banned initially, but the article mentions that lifting the ban on cellphones may still be a possibility. 'AirCell will install equipment on airliners that will act as a WiFi hotspot in the cabin and connect to laptop computers and devices like BlackBerrys that have WiFi chips. In all, it will cost about $100,000 to outfit a plane with less than 100 pounds of equipment, and the work can be done overnight by airline maintenance workers, AirCell says. What makes the service particularly attractive to airlines is that they will share revenue with AirCell. The service will cost about the same as existing WiFi offerings. Mr. Blumenstein says it will charge no more than $10 a day to passengers. It will also offer discounted options for customers and tie into existing service programs like T-Mobile, iPass and Boingo. Speeds will be equivalent to WiFi service on the ground.'"

3 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. I'm thinking about... by Belial6 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I'm thinking about the 5 hour cross country flight, sitting next to the the ass that is either so stupid that he can't figure out that a $.50 pair of ear plugs would solve his problems, or is so self centered that he thinks everybody else should modify their behavior in public places because trying to force his desired behavior on everyone else seems like a better idea than putting in a $.50 pair of ear plugs.

    I just wish that airlines would start offering free ear plugs, so we could all stop listening to the incessant whining of a bunch of intellectually challenged self centered ass holes.

    1. Re:I'm thinking about... by Belial6 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      Hmm... Lets see... I say, you do what you want, and I'll do what I want. You say, everybody does what you want. Somehow, you see that as being the same thing? Sorry to point to you directly, but that puts you into the intellectually challenged group. Just because you are some kind of neo-luddite, doesn't mean that everyone should make it their business to change their activity to suit you, because you are not bright enough to buy a $.50 pair of ear plugs. You see, with ear plugs, you get your quite, and I get my intellectual stimulation. That isn't good enough for you though. No, it isn't that you want quite. It is that you want to impose your will on those around you. Clearly you don't understand what the word 'courtesy' means.

    2. Re:I'm thinking about... by Belial6 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Sir, you have a disability. When you have a disability, you have to live with the fact that the world does not revolve around your disability, and that you may have to work harder to make the solution that works for the rest of us, work for you. The fact is, there are thousands of jobs that mandate by law, the use of ear protection. This protection is for noise. Take whatever you would do if you had one of those jobs, and apply it to riding in an airplane. There are plenty of solutions that could give you reletive quite on an airplane.

      That being said, your second paragraph indicates that you have overcome your disability, and learned to largely tune out those around you. That means my original suggestion would not likely apply to you anyway. The reason the whiny ass holes are so whiny is that they have been catered to, to the point that they think it is their right to tell everyone else how to behave. Even when they have the ability to ignore the other individual. They don't seem to think that it is their own responsibility to make themselves comfortable, and think that anyone not catering to them is being rude.