Mar 02, 2006

Some interesting information being discussed on Ars Technica about the potential interference of cell phones with important aircraft equipment.  A new study says that there may indeed be cause to worry.  An interesting read to be sure, but I think it misses the point entirely.

The article doesn’t talk at all about one piece of equipment that the cell phones would absolutely interfere with - ME.

I’m a frequent flyer - about 100K miles a year and 923K+ miloes over the last 7 years on one airline alone. I’m also a very frequent cell phone user - my plan is well over 1000 min a month, and one month a few years ago I actually used almost 3K minutes - that’s more than 40 hours in one month!  Now, do I say that to try and point out how hip and with it I am?  Goodness no.  It’s pathetic.  I hate my cell phone (when using it as a phone) and airline status is just a badge of stupidity showing that you let other people send you places they don’t want to go WAY too often.  I say this to establish the fact that I know flying and I know cell phones.

AND, I know that mixing the two would really suck.

I loath the idea of making them useable on a plane.  Can you imagine 300 people jammed into close quarters yakking on these things?  You can hardly hear anything on a cell phone anyway, let alone competing with the engine noise of a 767.  It would quickly degrade into each person trying to yell over the engines and each other while they make their calls.  What about during the night flights, when the lights are out and people should be sleeping - would you have a cell phone curfew?  That’s just silly…

Cell phones are a necessary evil of today’s business world.  They are also a great way to keep in touch with friends and loved ones.  BUT, they are not required in absolutely every moment of our lives.  Very few people are so important that they absolutely need to be in touch every single moment of the day.  And the people that are that important have their own damn planes and can do whatever they want in them.  If you really need to be in touch that badly, maybe you shouldn’t be on a plane?  Just a thought…

Anyway, my point is this - who cares about the technical aspect when the human aspect is so completely negative?  I literally don’t know a single person that thinks that this is a good idea.  The only reason I can see to make this kind of scientific research is to allow for broadband internet access.  At least that is a quiet technology that can provide entertainment as well as productivity.  BUT - you don’t need rampant wireless connections for that - you could easily put a plug in each seat, or in selective seats, like they do with the power outlets.  You’d need the internet tap to be wireless, but that has already been addressed, as we can see with Lufthansa and a few others.  I just don’t think that there is enough demand to warrant the kind of investment that broadband access would require - let’s not forget that most airlines are cutting out all of the extra frills, including that second little bag of peanuts that you crave so much. 
Here’s hoping that you won’t be able to “hear me now”…

in-flight cell phone use, cell phones, flying