December 27, 2007

Is Being Online All The Time (in an airplane) good for you?

Airlines are ramping up, yet again, to enable their customers to be online during flights.

The International Herald Tribune covers this extensively here.

I applaud the advancement of technology and know that sometimes the 4 or 14 hours you are on an airplane might be just the time you need to do work. However, being on an airplane could also be a way to "force" you to get some extra sleep or read.

IHT writes Emirates, based in Dubai, equipped 10 of its Airbus A340-500 jets with an onboard Wi-Fi system this year that allows travelers to access their personal Web mail accounts - including Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL. The service is available on selected flights between Dubai and destinations in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Germany.

Inflight Internet service is not new - it has just never taken off commercially. Boeing developed a service called Connexion in 2000, which was used by several major carriers, including Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. But at $9.95 an hour, many passengers found the cost prohibitive and the plane maker abandoned the system in 2006 after failing to drum up sufficient demand.

Within the next several months, not only will you be checking aisle or window, business class or coach, but you'll also be checking out which airlines are offering you Internet access during flights.

If you really need to access the Internet in an airplane - this technology evolution is great. However, it's very important to give your brain a rest from technology: checking email and browsing web sites.

tags: internet , mobile | 0 comments