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U.S. Airlines to Offer In-Air Wi-Fi
"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.'"
I hope phone calls stay banned. Airline flights are bad enough without having to listen to one side of a hundred phone conversations.
Imagine a 5 hour cross country flight, sitting next to some idiot yapping at the top of his voice on his cell phone. That after having to strip down, empty your bags, and submit to a body cavity search just to get through security. That cross country road trip is sounding better and better every day...
Use VoIP now. Just tunnel it through SSH or some other protocol. I hate people talking on the phone as much as the next guy, but I'd make a call just to spite them.
So what will keep someone with an internal wireless (cellular) broadband card in their laptop from using it, and claiming they are on the planes wi-fi network? To the passive observer, there would really be no way to tell the difference. Using cellular in a plane makes it explode or something, right?
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
Why does it cost 100 grand for a plane?
-- lol pwned
Those services listed all cost about $10 per day and at most airports they are your only wireless internet options; for instance, here in Atlanta when you connect to the wireless network you can only access the airport information site and the menu of wifi providers so you can purchase one of their internet service packages. It sucks (especially since I used to live in Pittsburgh where they offer it for free), however, it seems like the market has shown that it will support a price of $10 to connect to the internet during your air travel, so it only makes sense that when they are extending the airport wifi structure to the actual airplane they use the same distribution mechanisms and the same pricing scheme.
audioLibre - freedom of music
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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,
Game theory, buddy. You making your incessant inane calls gives you slight benefit while annoying the hell out of about 100 people around you. Thus, not worth it. If everyone talks constantly on their phones during a long flight it's worse for everyone.
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
It seems to be the desired behavior of the masses - I've never seen anyone who enjoyed listening to a cacophony of cell calls - so that's democracy for you. Forcing societal norms on assholes since 1776.
seems like a better idea than putting in a $.50 pair of ear plugs.
Sure does, that's not particularly comfortable. I don't want to have to stick shit in my ears for 5 hours because you can't shut the **** up for 10 consecutive minutes.
You're not so damned important that you can't wait until you get on the ground. In the rare case that someone is, their company will reimburse them for the exorbitant back-of-the-seat phone.
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.
The self-centered one is the dipshit who thinks his desires are more important than those of the 100 people around him. That would be you.
Or we could get the government (and people like you) out of regulating this and let the airlines make the decisions for themselves. If you don't want to share flight with people who can use cell phones, fine go to an air carrier that doesn't allow it. If enough people think like you, that carrier will be rewarded by the market. Meanwhile, people like me who have business to take care of on flights who want to use their cell phones can go to other airlines that choose not to restrict their passengers.
It may be a "public" place but the poor bastard next to you can't just get up and walk away if your talking irritates him. Your "right" to talk and his "right" to peace and quiet are going to conflict. How you both deal with that will be interesting, especially if your seat-mate is as reasonable, accommodating and willing to compromise as you seem to be.
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
I find all this talk of internet access in economy hilarious. On most flights with the seat pitch what it is I can barely open a paperback book on the tray table. My laptop? Forget it!! It stays in the overhead bin.
People, generally, speak very differently to others while in their presence than they do while on the phone. Let's look at the example of a moderately busy restaurant at lunchtime (not, say, TGIF during happy hour or kids-eat-free day at IHOP). Most of the time the "annoying" people in the restaurant are people on cell phones.
:)
Why do these cell-phone-people stand out, and why is this even trickier on planes? Several theories:
1) restaurants (and planes) are areas where it has traditionally been impossible and/or impolite to be on the telephone. People are paying quite a bit of money to enjoy their meal/trip, and expect some level of decorum from those around them.
2) When conversing with someone who is next to you, they can also observe the atmosphere and tailor the conversation (content, volume, laughter, emotion) to be appropriate. One party is probably not on the plane, and the party who is tends to get lost in conversation and converse without this regard. Is it the person on the planes responsibility to be polite? Yes. Do cell phones foster this behavior? I say no.
3) WHAT?!?!??! I'M ON THE AIRPLANE? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
4) In a restaurant and in an airplane people often try to converse, get business done, and eat. But planes have other considerations also. People try to watch movies (and no, headphones don't cancel out loud talking), sleep, read, or work diligently on their laptops. Some of these things are pretty hard to do when a large percentage of people are on the phone.
5) Extremely confined spaces mean people can be more irritable, and also require more consideration of others. Airplanes make quite a large number of people nervous, since they often combine numerous phobias/anxieties into one ordeal. Activities which foster respect, quiet, calm, and polite behavior should be fostered (such as movies, reading, sleeping, eating, headphone-music), and activities which don't shouldn't be (everyone on their cell phone, first-class vs coach rugby, or a lan party). Although those things may be rather fun on a plane, they're not exactly calm-enducing
Is there a middle road? Yes, and the airlines have a responsibility to try to promote it. Loud cell phone conversations should be given warnings, and then barred from use on 2nd or 3rd offense. On long haul flights, specific blocks of time should be set aside as no-cell-phone period, say when the lights go out for nap time or a movie is playing. Having some mention of these things by the crew serves a reminder that cell-phone politeness is really important on a plane. Staff shouldn't lie about why cell phones aren't allowed during certain periods, though, that's counter productive.
Do I think airlines care about these things? Maybe. They probably care more about money, though, and that's why they're going in the direction they're going (i.e., no VoIP on wifi, pay for cell phone service, encourage seat-back phone use, etc). As someone who tries to get things done on a plane (business, reading, etc) I welcome the option to use my cell phone at a reasonable rate, but I also feel that I'd be less-productive if everyone (including myself) turns plane rides into Verizon commercials.
Alternatively people could just learn some manners and consideration for others. It's not hard to make/take a phone call in a public place discreetly and quietly without intruding on anyone else's day. That said, putting all the children together and all the phone users together (at opposite ends of the plane please - I'd much rather listen to a phone call than a baby) wouldn't be a bad idea at all.