Plane Crazy
It’s been a long time coming but American Airlines is getting ready to roll out high-speed Internet access on airplanes. All at once it’s a great idea and the second worst thing that could happen to air travel. (We’ll get to the WORST thing a few paragraphs down.)
Personally, I’m excited by the possibilty of being productive on flights - at least until the 3rd or 4th vodka kicks in. I’d love to spend a 3 hour flight answering emails or writing brilliantly engaging blog posts instead of zoning out watching videos on my iPod - at least until the 3rd or 4th vodka kicks in. But while this service is aimed at the business traveller looking for productivity time, we all know that even in business class, you rarely end up surrounded by business travellers. And that’s when the “fun” begins…
Imagine that the person two rows behind you is 17 and was sending text messages on her phone at lightning speed right up until the plane left the ground. 20 minutes later, you’re at cruising altitude, she fires up a laptop, pops up her IM and starts chatting - of course without turning off her sound. Enjoy the melodious tones of AOL for the next 3 hours. And of course the pinging sound of 30 Outlook clients receiving mail all around you.
It could get worse. Both Skype and Internet Phone providers like Vonage now offer USB phones so you can make calls from your laptop. Now imagine that on your red-eye flight back from L.A. to New York.
Which brings me back to the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to air travel: the long-threatened use of mobile phones on airplanes. Think about that guy who cut off 3 lanes of traffic while screaming into his Bluetooth headset. Or the 80 year old woman in front of you on line at the supermarket who can’t stop talking on the phone long enough to pay for her groceries. (And then she writes a check! Why do they still let people write checks at the supermarket! Get a freaking ATM card already!) Now imagine these people are within 5 rows of you on an airplane.
Don’t get me wrong - as I said earlier, I look forward to the benefits of technology following me wherever I go. But it would be a lot more palatable if common courtesy were actually a little more common - at least until the 3rd or 4th vodka kicks in…
