A travel aid we didn’t need
Air France and OnAir have teamed up to make in-flight mobile phone service a possibility on international flights. With the service, passengers can send and receive SMS, send and receive email, and during the second trial phase they can make and receive calls as well.
They made mention of the service “being regulated to maintain passengers’ comfort and well-being” but I’m not entirely sure what that means and what the regulation will be.
According to Slashphone:
“At the end of the six-month trial, Air France will examine the feedback and comments made by customers to determine whether to launch this service on all its flights.”
I wonder if it will also examine all the feedback and comments made by the people who don’t want to hear one side of a business call or who don’t want to listen to some teenager have a fight with her boyfriend back home for an entire flight. I’m not so sure this is something we can consider an advance in technology - something that mutes all phone calls to everyone but the caller and receiver, now THAT would be an advance!
What do you think?
Technorati Tags: geeky traveller, travel gadgets, in-flight phone service
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2 opinions for A travel aid we didn’t need
Billiga Flyg Till Bangkok
Dec 31, 2007 at 4:57 am
Great to hear that on international flights people can now send and receive SMS, email, and they can make and receive calls as well.This is the great facility for business people who travel for long distance and need to contact with others.
Scribetrotter
Jan 1, 2008 at 10:12 am
Oh no, please, no in-flight phones! This has got to be one of the things that will make me think twice about boarding a plane. Surely we can manage to be out of touch for just a few hours… and if we can’t, there may be something seriously wrong with our work-life balance.
I absolutely shudder at the thought of listening to inane conversations all around me. It may be time to invest in those expensive noise-blocking headphones.
Or maybe the airlines can figure out how to make more money by providing us with super-plush headphones at a cost… and we’ll gladly pay just to keep the noise out.
I still remember when Internet first made it on some flights - and my organization would book me on those, fully expecting a full night’s work after a full night’s flight…
Inflight, short of rapidly disappearing natural habitat, is now officially on my endangered list as a haven of solitude.
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