[MLUG] David Pogue: Airplane Technology Takes Flight

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

See article below.  The step forward here is in giving you a three-prong 
plug in coach on Air Canada.  Great, but I never use Air Canada.  Also, I 
have two batteries with my laptop and can last most domestic flights with 
just one of them, even if watching a DVD.  And the thing I really care 
about on flights - wifi or broadband - seems not to be coming my way any 
time soon.  C'est la vie.

Mike


http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/airplane-technology-takes-flight/

> From the Desk of David Pogue: Airplane Technology Takes Flight

Greetings from 39,000 feet!

I'm writing to you on my laptop on a flight across Canada, courtesy of 
something I've never encountered before: full- blown, three-prong, 
U.S.-style power outlets on every seat back.

Not some wacky jack that requires a $70 adapter-we're talking regular 
three-prong outlets. Not in first class; in coach. Free, by the way.

Why is it, I wonder, that Air Canada is the pioneer here? Isn't it a sort 
of obvious idea-way more obvious than putting TV screens in everyone's 
seat back? I mean, if you have power, you can supply your own 
entertainment: a laptop, game, portable DVD player, whatever.

Each seat back on this plane also has a touch-screen entertainment unit 
with a choice of TV, radio, movies, games, and so on. Now, I've seen TV 
screens on planes before (they have them on JetBlue, on international 
flights and in first class) - but not like this. On this plane, there's no 
set schedule for movies beginning; every single seat has its own little 
TiVo. You can start, stop, pause, rewind or fast- forward any movie at any 
time, completely independently of the other passengers' showings.

It makes a huge difference. (Ever try to watch a movie on a plane while 
you're traveling with young children? I rest my case.)

Oh, and Air Canada doesn't charge for any of this, either. (On the other 
hand, I don't much care for the way this airline throws away 200 pairs of 
complementary headphones after each flight.)

Dear U.S. Carriers: If you're really looking for a competitive advantage, 
find out who's supplying Air Canada with these goodies.

You know what's weird, though? No wireless networking. We all thought that 
was coming, right? We'd hear about how Lufthansa flights already have 
on-board Wi-Fi high-speed wireless, and that it was only a matter of time 
before it came to North American carriers.

But even as entertainment screens are developing nicely, wireless Internet 
is taking a big step backward-maybe even off a cliff. Boeing is shutting 
down its Connexion Wi-Fi service, which is what Lufthansa and other 
airline experiments were using. Its Web site says, "The company has 
decided to exit the high-speed broadband communications connectivity 
market." The service is free until the end of 2006, but at that point, 
it's being turned off altogether.

And why is Boeing pulling the plug? Because "the global market for the 
service has not developed satisfactorily." Translation: It was losing 
money hand over fist.

Evidently not enough airlines outfitted their planes with the transmitters 
(at $500,000 apiece).

Surely some other company could step in and rescue the on- board Wi-Fi 
industry? But no. "There are currently no plans to transition the service 
to another provider."

That's a bummer. (I may be typing this at 39,000 feet, but I'll be sending 
it at sea level.)

Then there's the little matter of cellphones. Turns out that there's 
really not much evidence that cellphones cause cockpit interference; no 
study has ever been able to establish proof. In fact, there's now a 
discussion about perhaps relaxing the restrictions on cellphones on 
planes.

I just hope they know what they're doing. Removing the ban means you might 
be the unlucky slob who has the loudmouth yakking away next to you for 
four hours. At this point, planes are the last refuge of people who want 
to hear themselves think ... or watch movies.

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