Not Everyone Is Cheering as Wi-Fi Takes to the Air
Sunday, February 8th, 2009
Not Everyone Is Cheering as Wi-Fi Takes to the Air
Being cut off from work is no reason to keep internet access off planes. And, it’s pretty easy for flight attendants to make a rule: no sound through computer speakers on planes, headphones or mute. And, if a flight attendant catches a passenger looking at things on screen that might offend another passenger, shut the computer down. One strike and you’re out.
I have mixed feeling about this. When I’m stuck on long flights I often miss being connected, and I have used Wi-Fi to notify others of my delay while sitting on a plane stuck at the gate for over three hours in Japan. This was done by connecting to the airport’s Wi-Fi (barely).
Still, I do worry about the behavior of others while using such a service. Even those using Skype in airport lounges don’t seem to notice that they are often annoying to others as they yell into their headsets, while others are speaking (normally) on lounge telephones nearby and not disturbing anyone.
Courtesy and consideration of others is paramount on long flights, though sadly often missing. Time will tell if Wi-Fi keeps people busy and unobtrusive or just adds a layer of annoying behavior to cause others to dread flying even more. ;)
Dale: I’d say it’s not the device, it’s the jerk using it. In this case there are ways to use mobile phones that don’t bother others and there are ways to use computers connected to the internet that don’t bother others.
If people are considerate this can work. If not, hopefully flight attendants will be empowered to kick some butt and remove laptops from offenders for the duration of flights.
I’ve been on planes where people watch movies with no headphones, sound is blaring out of the computer for everyone to hear. It’s not hard to get people like this to stop and if we can’t do it by politely asking, a flight attendant will. The issue is, why would they be so rude to do it in the first place?