In-Flight Web Access Coming Soon? 172
tewl wrote to us with news that in-flight Internet and e-mail may soon be available on commercial airline flights, but that U.S. airlines are still wary of it. It sounds pretty interesting, but it also sounds like the earliest it's going to roll out is next year. Honestly, I'd like them to work on power adaptors first, but, hey.
Probable Basic Configuration of the system... (Score:1)
But you'll have to rent the keyboard and mouse, just like a movie headset (complete with airline-proprietary connector. . .). And good luck getting ANYTHING done in cattle, er, coach class. . .there just isn't room, even if they had little chiclet keyboards and touchpad mice.
A couple of hundred pax on a jetliner, figure at most half will actually go online, and most will accept modem speeds. So figure an on-board proxy server feeding 1-2 DirectPC-type satellite links, with a satellite uplink as well. . .
And three guesses as to the likely browser and OS of the inflight system. Especially since Boeing is the OTHER big outfit in the Seattle area. . .
Inflight power & internet (Score:1)
Re:Would you want to work in a cubicle (Score:2)
And, I travel a lot.
But -- I don't think that trying to squeeze a laptop into the mix really helps. I'd rather have a book, or just to sit and daydream.
Frankly, in terms of innovations, I'd take an airline that gave me two inches more width or depth over Internet access any day.
Re:Amtrak; Service; Cell Phones (Score:1)
Do you realise just how many of the cell-phone companies actually use Amtrak property to house their antennas, so most of the time your phone is close to an antenna.
And on the East Coast all of the main fiber lines run along the railroad, simplifies all the real estate issues, just one entity to deal with.
What would be nice would be to convince them to run 802.11 along the corridor.
Mike
More than just privacy issues.. (Score:1)
What's wrong with having one big broadband wireless connection to the ground, with a router and DHCP server on the plane feeding a gigabit LAN? Maybe the connection speed to the ground would suffer, but enough people use cable and DSL now that they're used to sharing the pipe, and there are ways to make sure the bandwidth is shared fairly.
If the DHCP server does DNS as well, you could map an onboard web server that has live updated flight info, position maps, interesting things to see out the window (does anyone look out the window anymore?) and even online flight safety pages. *That* would work. The proposal I saw just now is more a way to get advertisements onto our screens than anything else
Re:Power (Score:1)
Re:Shades of Die Hard 2.... (Score:1)
I think you're going to have serious limitations on web connectivity with Tenzing's scheme. A Major Application of in-flight web access is travel scheduling, and there is no way you will be able to upload the entire search space of travel information/connections etc. A small subset of the search space, no doubt culled from your content-providers, will not be useful. When people make changes to their travel itinerary, they need access to *all* the possible permutations of schedules/airlines/hotels/fares etc., unless I am missing something I just don't see how you will be able to povide that kind of functionality. And if you are offerring web access without a real-time travel-planning capability, then you'll lose a major chunk of the functionality and subsequent revenue.
If I am sitting in flight and I suddenly need to change my itinerary, I am not gonna be happy if the only travel website I can reach is MSN Expedia. And give me a break - will these content-providers have any reason to give me the full selection of discount fares that I can select from? More likely I will get less choice and higher prices than a land-based travel planner. On a plane, you're the ultimate Captive Audience.
Re:Would you want to work in a cubicle (Score:2)
When I'm on a long plane flight, I'm DESPERATE to find something else to do besides think about how cramped I am. Books, my laptop, cheesy portable arcade games - if I don't have them, then I really AM wiped out when I reach my destination!
Re:Oil Sheikh (Score:2)
Re:How Aircraft Get Electrical Power (Score:2)
A direct connection to the turbine would be horribly complex. A pnematic or hydrolic connection is simpler...
But IIRC the APU on the B737 is a tiny thing, not like the engine on the B727. How can it produce enough compressed air to start the big boys? You'd have to run a 2" line clear to the expanders, and use it as a storage vessel.
Also whilst the B727 has everything in one place (at the back) a B737 has an engine on each wing and the APU in the tail.
Cool FQN? (Score:1)
802.11 on the NE Corridor (Score:2)
Someone go do this. You'll make a ton of money.
sulli
Re:Would you want to work in a cubicle (Score:2)
Just depends on what you like to do for fun - I'm pretty consistent about zoning out when I'm in front of a computer screen (much to the irritation of my family). Time goes pretty fast for me when I'm doing it though.
What I _really_ fantasize about is having a wearable virtual reality setup - plane? I'm on a plane? oh yeah, I forgot :)
Just what I need (Score:1)
Re:Amtrak (Score:2)
I too am about 6'4, and I take Amtrak to Virginia all the time to visit my girlfriend.
And the seats are _truly_ lovely (especially compared to airline travel!) and it's reasonably quick.
But the Philly-to-DC-and-parts-south run is usually ALWAYS packed! On a typical day, it's SRO until at LEAST Wilmington, if not BWI!
But that's a quibble. I concur otherwhise most wholeheartedly - Amtrak is a pretty nice way to travel.
Redhawk
Re:Power (Score:2)
Anyway, it wouldn't be a safety issue--you can bet that it would be set up so that if power runs low, non-essential systems go first. You might not like having your laptop considered non-essential, but that's life.
What US are you in? (Score:1)
The DC3 (operator US Airways) I flew to Atlanta on in August allowed "Data/Email calls" for $1.99/min. It was too expensive to play with, but there.
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:1)
Well, then I'll ask the stewardess for a stiff drink.
---
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate [ncsu.edu].
Great..... (Score:2)
It sounds like someone in management said "Make it happen!" This means the implementation will be haphazardly thrown together. We already have problems with Laptops and portable radios interfering with the radio navigation used by airplanes. I can imagine the new problems this may cause.
I can't wait to see the headlines:
Hackers Take Control of Airplane While in Flight
Ever think of the concept of "Down Time"? (Score:1)
Re:OH NOOO! (Score:1)
Is it really necessary to wear white jeans?
Re:Power (Score:2)
Re:How Aircraft Get Electrical Power (Score:1)
From United Airlines' B737 ATOP course. They are more of a block diagram than a full schematic. If you've ever seen a B737 taken apart for a "D" check you'll realise that the full schematic would be rather large (especially for the electrical system. There are large bundles of cables everywhere).
I'm glad I'm the one who doesn't have to hunt down a break or short in any of those miles of wiring!
Re:How Aircraft Get Electrical Power (Score:1)
Air rage? Hardly. (Score:2)
More seriously, I would be less enraged (as a frequent flier) if I could do productive things ... or just click on pretty widgets to kill time.
sulli
Re:Power (Score:2)
I did notice that it said: "Listing of all accidents in which the aircraft involved was damaged beyond repair:"
I work in this industry and have a bit of an idea of how many privately owned _large_ aircraft there are. Let's say that the sky isn't crowded with privately owned 747's.
Shades of Die Hard 2.... (Score:3)
Re:I know this is really macabre .... (Score:2)
You will answer my demands or else!
/dcc send demands.txt
Just what we need... (Score:1)
Re:There is a reason they are doing this (Score:1)
Great... just what we need... an SNMP managable 747 (talk about a need for "Collision Detection" on your network!)
;)
Just a second... (Score:2)
Kierthos
Re:yuppies oh my! (Score:1)
Re:Oh lord... (Score:1)
"The first 4 characters of the command began while the plane was over TN, but the line was completed over Arkansas..."
Oh... so what you're saying is, it should be tried in a Federal Court since the act was perpetrated while crossing state boundries?
But at what cost? (Score:4)
How Aircraft Get Electrical Power (Score:5)
The plane has three identical generators - two driven off the main engines, and one driven by a small turbine in the tail (the APU).
The generators are connected to the engines by a CSD (Constant speed drive) that...well, runs the gennies at a constant speed. The CSD is basically just a mechanical transmission. They generate 120 volts at 400Hz. (Incidentally, that's what that 'whine' is on the audio channels that you can hear - it's the 400Hz bleeding over). DC power for the stuff that runs on DC is 28vdc. It is either provided by the battery, or by the T/R (transformer/rectifier) units from the 120VAC supply.
Normally, in flight, the APU gets shut down, and power is provided by the engine-driven generators. This energy isn't free of course - if everyone turned their laptops on, the Captain would have to push the thrust levers a little bit more forward. I don't remember what the ratings of the generators are (but if you're really interested, email, and I'll look it up).
The generators cannot supply the same bus at the same time (there's a left and right bus) because if they are out of phase, all hell breaks loose. (The B727, so I am told, can run more than one generator on a single bus, but the B727 has a flight engineer to make sure everything is in phase)
Other aircraft services, such as pressurization and airconditioning are NOT electrical (although they are controlled electrically!). The air you breathe in a plane comes out of the engines off some of the high-pressure compressor stages (the compressor is *before* the combustion chambers). This extremely hot air goes through the PACKs (pressurization and airconditioning kit) so that it reaches you at the right temperature. Incidentally this is why you sometimes get smoke in the cabin when that engine all the way out there on the wing croaks.
Have you ever wondered why the lights flicker just after engine start? Well, on the B737 at least, Boeing employs "break before make" switches when the two power buses are switched from the APU's generator to the engine driven generators, hence there's a brief power outage when one of the pilots reaches up to the overhead panel and throws the switch.
Also...the engines on the B737 are not started by electricity! They are started by compressed air. To get the engines going, first you have to crank up the APU and use its compressor bleed air to start the engines. Smaller jets have electrically started engines though (bizjets like Lears, Citations etc.)
Re: Power Adapters (Score:1)
Power adapters and web access (Score:4)
As for in flight web-access... I'm sure it will be as reasonably priced as those in-flight phones... right? I'm sure they'll knock the price down to $1 or $2 a minute - or something equally reasonable...
Power Supplies already available on Swissair... (Score:1)
Forget web access ---- How about NO DELAY FLIGHT (Score:1)
Just what we need... (Score:2)
Quake LAN Party (Score:1)
I could see some of the tech-heavy commuter legs turning into airborne Quake LAN parties.
Yea... (Score:1)
öööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööö
OH NOOO! (Score:1)
Isn't it possible to be disgusted by the food served without the bloke near me yelling at his stock broker ?
Is it really necessary that my neighborly seat neighbor is hot synching his palm while spilling his bloody mary on my white jeans ?
And all that for 6.50$ a minute (plus tax and connection charge)
Arghh!
Re:But at what cost? (Score:1)
After all, before those fixed Hughes mini-dishes sprouted up everywhere, satellite dishes were BIG, and you had to point them all over the sky to get different channels.
If the plane makes a really sudden change in heading or something you might lose the signal, but presumably that doesn't happen unless you're about to crash - the plane, that is.
Re: Power Adapters (Score:1)
I'm not sure if its standard on all of them yet, but the majority of the flights I've been on lately (on the NYC Chicago run) have cigaret adapter plugs located between each pair of seats.
(ie one outlet on the two seater side of the plane and two on the three seater side of the aisle).
While not an ideal situation (a lot of us still have only the regular AC adapters, and if everyone in your row has a laptop it gets interesting), but still much better for the business traveller who knows he's going to be flying around a lot.
Re:Just a second... (Score:2)
Part of why they don't want you using things is that an airborn cell phone has a stronger signal than one on the ground, and can talk over (and disconnect) other connections. Also, since you're hopping from one cell to the next so quickly, you're leaving a wake of disconnections, and frequently, no billing. (You apparently move through a cell faster than it can recognize you, and bill you.) Some of the in-air phones are apparently linked to a bigger cell-phone antenna that connects to well-placed, special cell phone towers.
I'm not aware of a cell phone, or other electronic device, causing problems on a modern airliner (it'd surprise me with the level of sophistication up there in the cockpit), but I am aware of one chap who wouldn't hang up his cell phone, and was charged with an offense.
Re:OH NOOO! (Score:1)
Re:Pissed off (Score:1)
Re:Amtrak (Score:1)
Anyway, Amtrak is, yes, highly lovely. My work stuffs me on the train to Penn Station in New York every Monday, and back home again to DC every Friday, for the next 3 weeks at least.
Seats are comfy enough that I can sleep on the way up, which is fantastic. I can actually reach the foot rests on the Metroliner cars (I'm 5-0 barefoot)
And, best of all, there are 120v plugs at every seat. Which means, as long as your seatmate isn't already on his or her laptop, WOO! Three hours of Alpha Centauri, Nethack, Roller Coaster Tycoon, or whatever other mindless game you want to waste your time on for the duration of the trip.
The dining cars, btw, have Trainphones, which I believe you could plug a laptop into if you wanted. Expensive but, hey, its a connection, right? A cell modem would work just as well, or a modem-to-cell adapter.
Either way, trains are SO much nicer than planes. Room to strech out, better food, and no need for batteries. Oh, and no stupid "Turn the laptop/phone/whatever off!" rule!
SW Airlines has (had?) a similar service (Score:1)
Of course, it wasn't the internet; you couldn't browse to a random URL, and (IIRC) there was no email facility.
Gah. This idea is hopelessly broken. How are you going to cache Google [google.com]? The most interesting parts of the web (like every search engine) generate content on-demand...-y
Re:Filtered or Non-Filtered? (Score:2)
After loudly announcing that his wife was up there in first class, repeatedly (and why, we don't know), he settled down into his seat, got out his Mac powerbook, and started watching a porn DVD.
I can hear it now, "Stewardess, can you make that man surf with both hands?"
Re:privacy issues (Score:2)
you know all those near misses you hear about in the news ("TWO PLANES CAME WITHIN 150 FEET OF EACH OTHER TODAY...").
hmmm....
what is the range on 802.11 again?
Re:Just a second... (Score:1)
On board LAN? (Score:1)
It would be very cool if a Quake 3 CTF match could be played between First Class and Coach passengers...
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live demo by globalstar on right now (Score:1)
Ok for passengers (Score:1)
Amtrak; Service; Cell Phones (Score:2)
Unfortunately, once you get off the modernized tracks, you're sharing older tracks with freight trains and may find yourself delayed significantly. They're getting much better, but for business travel it really depends.
In a move that the airlines (and the computer biz!) should emulate, they recently introduced an unconditional money-back guarantee. [amtrak.com] Pretty damn good.
As for cellphones on trains, this doesn't work so well on electric routes (notably the NE Corridor, DC-Boston). I think there's too much interference. Anyone working on always-on net access from trains (which would be so, so nice!) would need to solve this problem before it would work well.
sulli
A frigging huge cost! (Score:2)
It was $15 to be connected, then $10/minute.
That is $615 per hour. For that price, I could:
- pay for a Bell 206 helicopter AND pilot for an hour.
- pay the direct costs of a one hour flight in a Lear 35 bizjet.
- fly a Beechcraft Bonanza for six hours.
- fly our Cessna 140 for 30 hours (which is plenty of time to get across the Atlantic and back if you don't mind doing it single-engine at 85 knots)
Re:It's bad enough when they get drunk and... (Score:2)
Its cause you get drunk faster at lower air pressures, and the air pressure in an airplane at 30,000 ft, is about like being at ~8,000 feet on the ground. So basically you drink what you are used to and get more kick...
Kill 300 people on you next flight.. well frag...! (Score:2)
We will be showing this to airlines next week.
"How to kill 300 people on your next flight"
Unreal Tournament!
Fun on Flights (Score:2)
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:2)
Fly across the country and try to hack your way into the airplane's Internet server. It would be a lot more interesting than watching the lame movie.
I can just see it, "you have been owned, bi-atch", popping up on everyone's web browser.
Re:Great..... (Score:2)
Re:Power adapters and web access (Score:2)
Boeing has been working on this for a couple of months. They are mainly hoping that an internet-ready BBJ will persuade more people to look that way instead of a GulfStream, etc...
How does Doppler effect this? (Score:2)
Re:Just a second... (Score:2)
If you look at the FAA's anonymous safety problem report database, there are quite a few reports of weird avionics problems that appear to have been caused by passenger electronic devices. The scary thing is the large number of passengers who refuse to turn off their devices after repeated requests from the crew, and who lie about having a device turned on. They should be asked to leave the plane, at cruising altitude.
There is a reason they are doing this (Score:2)
One of the things that they want to do is transmit real-time weather data to aircraft in flight. The problem is that it takes a lot more bandwidth then they have currently available to do this, so they are going to start putting in high-speed communications links on aircraft (via satellite, etc.)
The problem with this is that the increased bandwidth costs big $, so they are thinking of offsetting the cost to the airlines by offering some of the spare bandwidth to passengers for entertainment services including internet access.
No (Score:2)
Free vs. Expensive; Crappy vs. Good (Score:4)
It's also very important that the internet access be real internet access, not some "air traveler portal" piece of shit. Local caching may be fine for Yahoo et al. (perhaps one could install a mini Akamai server on the plane?) but if this is anything like those touch-screen terminals in the airports now, it's close to useless. We need:
- ethernet ports to plug into, with DHCP;
- full access to the net (slow speed is ok);
- non http/pop3 applications (telnet, ping, ipsec); and
- no mandatory home page or ads!
A fast intranet would be nice too, so people can AIM and/or Quake with each other.
If it's designed this way, it will be fabulous and make me switch airlines. I'd even pay $5/flight for it. But I'm not holding my breath.
sulli
Re:Just a second... (Score:2)
I would suspect that with this network in place, it will still be the same thing - you can't use the laptop to connect to the 'net until you've reached cruising altitude.
cockpit web access? (Score:2)
Supposedly, they will make it "as easy to fly as it is to drive a car". You just joystick your way through a tunnel/mesh to land and take off, and everything else is autopilot.
They run windows apps, too. Shame that NASA is using our tax dollars, partnered with MS, to create all this stuff, in what is essentially a closed consortium.
I think I'd be more comfortable if it was open sourced!
Does anyone know any more details on this project?
Re:How Aircraft Get Electrical Power (Score:2)
I can't find the information on how much the bleed air off the APU gives you - but there's a limitation on usage of 10,000 feet if you're taking bleed air and electrical power off the APU, or 17,000' for just bleed air, so it probably isn't too much. The schematic of the pneumatic system just shows lines coming off the APU and going to the main engines for starting (plus a few valves along the way). The main engines have pneumatic starters that spin up the N2 stage. Additionally, the APU can only operate one PACK at at time. The APU is additionally not powerful enough to provide wing anti-icing (another use of bleed air). Main engine bleed air is taken from the 8th and 13th stages of the N2 compressor (-200 series, P&W JT8D engines - the long, skinny ones), and you can use the bleed air off one engine to start the other.
The constant speed drives that run the generators off the engines are hydromechanical units - internal oil used as an operating fluid and for cooling. The APU doesn't have a CSD since the turbine is designed to operate at a constant speed.
Re:Power (Score:2)
Power was never a consideration or drawback - the weight of the extra wiring is (and always will be). That is one of the major reason US Airlines are hesitating to sign up for the inflight-net service - the extra weight of the equipment needed. In aircraft, weight == money. The more weight the aircraft has, the less it can carry. The less it can carry, the less they make off of it.
Re: Power Adapters (Score:2)
Despite their general availability for some years, UAL chose not to put them in coach. Typical behavior of the world's largest, and crappiest, airline. So I have limited expectations that web access will be any good, at least on UAL.
sulli
Re:It's bad enough when they get drunk and... (Score:2)
Actually, he took a crap on the first class drink cart.
While I was looking for that link, I found this one
http://www.flyana.com/rage.html
It talks about some interesting causes of "air rage".
-B
Electronic Devices on Planes (Score:2)
So the FAA said "Gee, it COULD have been portable electronic devices that are to blame" and imposed the ban. No laboratory test has ever shown conclusively that portable consumer electonic devices are even CAPABLE of interfering with aircraft systems. Never. It's a bogus ban based on anecdotal evidence.
It has bothered me for a long time that they continue to perpetuate this falsehood. At the same time I am grateful that I don't have to sit near people who are constantly on their cell phones. That would drive me crazy. I hope they keep the ban on cell phones for purely aesthetic reasons even after they come to their senses about the non-existant danger they always tell you about.
Re:Shades of Die Hard 2.... (Score:5)
Anyway, I work at Tenzing, and here's some info to clear up some of the confusion. You may think some of Tenzing's ideas suck, but hey.
Email: You'll be able to use your current email account, you won't need a special tenzing account. There's some software that basically "dials up" to the onboard server; your laptop thinks it's connected to your ISP. It's pretty transparent, except you gotta use our SpecialNiftySoftware to start the whole process. Then the server just acts as a proxy between you and your ISPs actual mail servers. Mail gets collected, and every x minutes (set by the airline) all the mail is bundled, sent to the ground, and new mail for you gets sent up to the plane. So there is a delay.
Web: As noted, there's cached web content. However, it's not all just static crap. Partnerships with various places and search engines will allow searches, online orders, etc, in flight. Selected stuff will be updated during the flight, like stock quotes and maybe weather and whatever else our marketing dorks decide is necessary, but most updates will happen between flight legs.
Actual connectivity: None, yet. Some companies are working on actual broadband access during flights, but it's still experimental. We hope to get partnerships with these folx later. :)
Electronic device usage: Well, standard airline rules apply. The connection is thru the plane's phone lines to the seats, so there's no special new concerns. We've asked about using wireless, but the gov doesn't like that idea at the moment.
Quake games: Probably possible, but remember that, at least at first, you're limited to phone dialup speeds (since you connect thru the modem). Whether the games are doable or not depends on how the engineers setup the onboard boxes.
A piece of trivia: The servers are all running some OS that happens to be pretty popular around here. Muahah.
Re:How Aircraft Get Electrical Power (Score:2)
Mark Duell
Great (Score:2)
Re:Power (Score:2)
http://aviation-safety.net/datab ase/type/104.shtml [aviation-safety.net]
You tell me which the other two are.
Could be worth it (Score:2)
Re:Power (Score:2)
Yes, actually they do. To give you an idea of In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) Systems out there, their power requirements range roughly from 7.500 to 35.000 Watts for a 300 seat installation (with individual displays).
I don't want to go into the details of IFE systems, because I am biased (I work for the one and only, tha best!
I do have to say that it's painful to finally have an article about our industry on
Gotta run (some wires tween aircraft seats
Breace
Re:OH NOOO! (Score:2)
My $0.02 on screwing the business traveller (Score:2)
Even if I am on an expense account $12/hr for 'internet access' is ridiculous. I can batch up my emails myself and send them when I get on the ground thank you very much.
The same thing applies to in room hotel broadband. Most of these services are priced at something like $10-$15/day. What?! Most business travellers might connect for thirty minutes each night to check email. For this a modem is quite enough, and virtually free. Its fine for web surfing too. I just don't get that much more out of a broadband pipe to justify that kind of cost.
These bozos need to learn something about pricing. When you offer a service and charge a hell of a lot more than the competing service, it had better offer a lot more, either in the way of convenience or services.
On a plane the competing service is waiting to get to a land line on the ground. Most people will gladly do this, accept perhaps on extremely long flights. Add to that the complexity of setting up the service and the software and the in flight internet access just does not seem to be a competitive service - it is way over priced and only marginally more convenient than the free options.
Also on the plane, Internet access is competing with the inflight movie and reading materials - which are virtually free to the traveller. This is about the only reason I might browse the internet on a long flight, for entertainment purposes. I don't know that reading some canned day old wall street journal web site on my laptop is better than reading the real thing I bought for 75 cents in the terminal.
Meet the In-Flight vendors next week! (Score:2)
They're the people who are actually going to be implementing on-flight web access, on-demand video, etc.
I would mention the in-flight entertainment company I'm working for during the summer here, but we don't want to be slashdotted! But we've got satellite linkup working for Net access in a development model, with USB connectors for laptops etc. (software for that not written yet), along with cool proper on-demand video - pause, fast forward, rewind all work - much better than what I've experienced on Virgin Atlantic recently!
I can just see the inflight script kiddies now... (Score:2)
wr0d
i hAv3 jUZt hAx0r3d tHA iNfL1gHt c0mPUtAh
0n tH1s 7373131337
aND n0w 3y3 d0 Fr33stYl3 pAtcH0rZ l1nk1nG dA w1nGz t0 mAh f0rc3-f33dBAcK j0yst1x p0rT 0n qUak3
ph00lz!!! 34t l33t m4cH-1 r0x0r!!!
* hAx0r glides fr33stYl3
(airplane rocks back and forth erratically)
aAAaH! ra1lgUnZ de4tH!
0k l3tZ trY r0ck3t jUmP
(airplane spins into a nosedive)
wh3r3 1z tHA bUtT0n f0r g0d-m0d3?
(*crash*)
n000! d1s 0c3aN 1z m4d3 0v lAvA!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
* Quits: hAx0r (Connection reset by peer))
Lets try that again... (Score:2)
<hAx0r> wr0d
<hAx0r> i hAv3 jUZt hAx0r3d tHA iNfL1gHt c0mPUtAh
<hAx0r> 0n tH1s 7373131337
<hAx0r> aND n0w 3y3 d0 Fr33stYl3 pAtcH0rZ l1nk1nG dA w1nGz t0 mAh f0rc3-f33dBAcK j0yst1x p0rT 0n qUak3
<hAx0r> ph00lz!!! 34t l33t m4cH-1 r0x0r!!!
* hAx0r glides fr33stYl3
(airplane rocks back and forth erratically)
<hAx0r> aAAaH! ra1lgUnZ de4tH!
<hAx0r> 0k l3tZ trY r0ck3t jUmP
(airplane spins into a nosedive)
<hAx0r> wh3r3 1z tHA bUtT0n f0r g0d-m0d3?
(*crash*)
<hAx0r> n000! d1s 0c3aN 1z m4d3 0v lAvA!
<hAx0r> Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
* Quits: hAx0r (Connection reset by peer))
Would you want to work in a cubicle (Score:2)
Airline internet access is a logical corrolary overall erosion of time to relax. I'ts inevitable that it will happen, and it will do good for some people some of the time, but most of the time it means you can arrive at your destination completely wiped out.
Re:Power (Score:2)
Not ALL of the power is used to provide thrust (although you are correct when you say most is). As was pointed out before, there are a few airlines that already have jacks at every seat. My point was that it was NOT limited by power (as the original poster suspected), but by weight and money.
SatComms systems development (Score:2)
Now, however, broadband satellite uplinks are on the way - with a 128K + shared data pipe connection for passengers, and dynamically portioned speech bandwidth of about the same, featuring useful items like a data uplink channel that relays data about the plane's systems to an external system (redundancy for the black box system, and useful as an aide in diagnosing problems from the ground as well as in the air). These should be avaliable RSN, and will be fitted to a plane near you soon. Hopefully
privacy issues (Score:3)
The domain would probably identify you as a passenger of a given airline.
It could easily be misconfigured so that cookies survive between different legs of the same flight, so that someone on a latter leg would already be signed in to whatever servers the previous passenger had been visiting.
And of course, just like with laptops, anyone sitting nearby can see what you're doing. So if you like to visit porn sites, you'll run a risk of offending other passengers. Air rage? Yet another cause. Oh wait, they'll probably use some censorware to solve that problem and create a bunch of new ones.
Anyway, there are a bunch of issues for the airlines to deal with. Personally, I would prefer if they just provided a power outlet and an ethernet port (or run wireless networking--wouldn't the FAA love that!).
Now the airline that makes it free instead of $$$/minute will see a huge boost in ticket sales.
Power (Score:4)
Hopefully, it wouldn't come down to: "Please unplug your laptops. The captain has just lost all the flight instruments!"
Re:But at what cost? (Score:2)
For bandwidth, this is an ideal situation for sattelite Internet. Just adapt one of those small dishes for use in an airplane, and you'll have decent download bandwidth. You'll have to be a little more creative for the upstream side, but people will usually tollerate that being relatively slow.
Re:But at what cost? (Score:3)
Many modern aircraft are equiped with a device called ACARS [arinc.com]. In short it is a VHF communication device between the onboard computerized (mostly) avionics and ground based computers. The VHF band is totally unsuitable for bandwidth over 32k. Airlines use ACARS to track their aircraft and the performance of onboard systems.
The small monopoly of companies that provide this kind of service charge an arm and a leg for the service. This puts it out of reach for anyone other than big fleet operators.
I fly a lot. I work for an airline. I really can't remember actually seeing anyone actually using that seat back phone. The airphone provider ate the cost of installation (but not aircraft interest; see below) and gives a percentage back to the airline. I can't imagine there is much revenue from those things. The airlines simply don't get enough money from those phones.
There is a good reason airlines are against it. There is an old addage: airplanes don't make any money on the ground. Airlines put their newest, best aircraft of premium routes. Taking an aircraft down for a week to install a few ethernet jacks and routers is huge amounts of lost revenue and the non-deferrable cost of whatever financing arangements (read interest) the airline has for that aircraft. Airlines who are still licking their fuel cost wounds aren't interested in opening up the money chests.
In short, the air to ground technology is still not mature enough to keep the cost low enough to get get enough people to use it.
Re:Just a second... (Score:2)
Excellent! (Score:2)
Just have to figure out how to charge the connection fee to the contract without raising a flag...
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Re:But at what cost? (Score:2)
Re:Oh lord... (Score:2)
"The first 4 characters of the command began while the plane was over TN, but the line was completed over Arkansas..."
Visit DC2600 [dc2600.com]
I'm confused (Score:2)
As is typical of MSNBC, they're taking old news and presenting it as a dramatic new development. I was surprised not to see exclamation points in this article.
Re:Amtrak (Score:2)
And they have a common sense ticketing policy with refundable tickets--the person sitting next to you pays the same as you.
The only problem is that you are on your own for communications. So if you want to be online, you need to use a cell phone connection. (Also, the power flakes out every once in a while, so you can only use it to avoid killing batteries, not to use stuff that doesn't have batteries.)