Tuesday, October 4, 2005
Coming To A Plane Near You - A Guy Screaming Into His Cell Phone
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THOUGHT" @ 01:00 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/business/04cell.html?ei=5090&en=70ea3a44c99b2f86&ex=1286078400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
"Security lines, weather delays and equipment failures make flying a burden for many. For Jason Green, it is a slice of heaven - virtually the only place he is not bombarded by phone calls and e-mail. "Being on a plane has become a mini-retreat for me," said Mr. Green, 32, executive vice president of Touchstone Pictures. "Long international flights are like vacation. No phone, no e-mail and no guilt for being unreachable." But Mr. Green's no-obligation oasis may soon disappear. Federal regulators are reassessing the rules barring phones in the air even as some international airlines are gradually introducing Internet access to their planes. And two European carriers - TAP Air Portugal and BMI, a British company - said recently that they would become the first to proceed with cellphone service, in three-month trials on flights within Europe next year."
I am so NOT looking forward to this. I like getting on a plane and being in my own world for a few hours. It is a chance to catch up on email, projects that always seem to take a back seat at the office, reading and even a cat nap. It infuriates me to be next to or near someone willing to pay the $5/minute rates on those "air phones" because they are generally inconsiderate of people around them, and speak as if the length of their conversation and the volume of their voice denotes their importance somehow. :evil:
Hmmm... perhaps my next bit of mobile technology will be this. :devilboy:
"Security lines, weather delays and equipment failures make flying a burden for many. For Jason Green, it is a slice of heaven - virtually the only place he is not bombarded by phone calls and e-mail. "Being on a plane has become a mini-retreat for me," said Mr. Green, 32, executive vice president of Touchstone Pictures. "Long international flights are like vacation. No phone, no e-mail and no guilt for being unreachable." But Mr. Green's no-obligation oasis may soon disappear. Federal regulators are reassessing the rules barring phones in the air even as some international airlines are gradually introducing Internet access to their planes. And two European carriers - TAP Air Portugal and BMI, a British company - said recently that they would become the first to proceed with cellphone service, in three-month trials on flights within Europe next year."
I am so NOT looking forward to this. I like getting on a plane and being in my own world for a few hours. It is a chance to catch up on email, projects that always seem to take a back seat at the office, reading and even a cat nap. It infuriates me to be next to or near someone willing to pay the $5/minute rates on those "air phones" because they are generally inconsiderate of people around them, and speak as if the length of their conversation and the volume of their voice denotes their importance somehow. :evil:
Hmmm... perhaps my next bit of mobile technology will be this. :devilboy:
