In-flight Wifi won't be a work issue for me, as I doubt my company would be willing to routinely pay for the connect charges. On a long flight, if the price were right, I'd spring for it myself just for the distraction.

In any event, since I'm mostly flying for work, mostly during work hours, my company thinks I should be getting work done. And I (mostly) do.

Fogbert

This picture scares me. Seriously, not to be mean, but either shave or change your hair.. something is just.. wrong. Your face scares me. I'm sorry, it just does!

Kev50027

Can Giz explain why I have to turn off my ipod during take-off and landing but they can have XM radio and wifi signals pumping through the cabin without a care in the world?

broho

Meh, I'd still love to have wi-fi on a plane. 5.1 surround sound headphones = I can't hear you talking on Skype = me happy and productive.

It also means I can pick and choose what movies I want to see, instead of seeing garbage airline movies.

SJRNWT

I would give the old "air sickness" excuse. No one wants to have someone get sick on the plane and who would know if you got sick or not... Well they might know if you accidentally played the same game as your boss. As someone that takes a bus with wifi I can tell you I still would rather read on it than be on the internet the whole time... but that's a bus too.

I mixed on the issue.

quayzar

@lostarchitect: and get off my lawn

bohn002

I hate to fly, and I draw the line at trying to work on an airplane. If my company expects me to fly somewhere for work, then the flight itself is work enough. I'm going to do my damnedest to try and relax and get from point A to B, and that's it.

EBone

Its not the people working on the plane that will bother me. its the people using skype or some other mobile phone app that will kill me on flights.

iPhoneGroupie

Brian was born a Mii...Mark, born an NXE Avatar.

They were destined to become sworn enemies eons ago.

Chromeo

Meow

.Trenchant.

please delete my account

please delete me

"P.S. Brian, I'm not sorry for calling you a dufus"

ahhh yes, the old CYA :)

MrBlahBlah

I don't see the problem really. You can always just go to sleep. You can't be forced to work when you are taking a morning flight on a business trip...or at least that's how I feel. I'm sure some people will feel the need to work on the plane though, which is sad.

GTgeek

i'm tired of it in general. when my contract is up on my iphone this summer i'm not renewing. i'm getting vonage at home, and piss off if you want to text me about work. if work wants me to have a cell, they can buy me one.

lostarchitect

I'm glad I don't have to fly much for work...

Jrsy is back to being the dude, playing the dude disguised as another dude

Business is all about the drinking, how do you think people who work all the time get through their days? Drinking of course!

Morberis

@Mark 2000: If you read Brian's article, Virgin America has power plugs even in coach. One of the few that does that.

jayhawk11

"Folks we are experiencing some WiFi enduced turbulence. Please remain seated and enjoy the ride."

basicvisual

Isn't there a bottle neck on your battery? I've never been on a flight where you can plug in. I mean, I know you can, but not in the class I fly.

Mark 2000

Agreed... in flight wi-fi is a horrible thing. I'm a former crackberry addict, a current iphone addict, I think I "need" internet to get anything done, and flights are my only time to catch up on reading/personal stuff/sleep.

Is it my fault I can't disconnect on the ground? Yes. But at least I had a sure-fire way before to read a book. Now, its gone.

remps

No one said that the Wifi couldn't be 'inexplicably be down' on your ride.

Metkis

He still looks like a Mii in this picture.

jayhawk11

I think in-flight Rosetta Stone is a bad thing. No es bueno!

darex

He looks like he just got caught George Michael style.

Hardcore1

@bohn002: EXACTLY. and i'm keeping this damn ball.

lostarchitect

@Mr-Mr: LMFAO!! Never thought of it that way but yes, I can see some Steve Perry there.

AJ_Syrinx

"Enough is enough! I have had it with these mother*ucking wifis on this mother*ucking plane!" After everybody gets prepared, Flynn shoots out two windows with a pistol, causing the plane to depressurize. The wifis are thus removed from the cockpit and the lower floor of the plane.

ypctx

@broho: because those signals have been tested and approved by the FAA. They have not tested all phones and mobile devices to see if they will interfere with the airplanes avionics. That being said will your phone or ipod interfere with the aircraft, Most likely not, but they are following the better safe than sorry Moto since they can not possibly test all gadgets.

Lokiprimary

I initially thought this was Steve Perry. lol ...

Mr-Mr

I guess its a very sorry day when professional "technology enthusiasts" make arguments to have LESS access to modern day technologies than more.

But whats worse is the argument is one based on some combination of "addiction control" and fatalistic-based "justification of non-performance" rather than something meaningful like "low bandwidth" or "significantly reduced quality-of-life".

Mark, feel free to not use the airborne WiFi and mumble lies to yourself and Brian that "the router was down over ohio" or some nonesuch to justify your disuse, but please don't piss in everyone else's corn-flakes about finally bringing internet access to one of the few remaining areas that can really use it.

-avi

avi.weiss

Don't deprive me of convenience just because you don't have enough self control to turn off your blackberry for a couple hours.

liku

I flight a lot and welcome this new service on the plane, especially for those coast to coast flights. I rather have ppl typing away on their keyboard instead of yapping about something meaningless in their life I don't want to hear about.

os_2

Dogs lip-syncing to Thriller? You need to change your metaphors.

I work as a meth lab technician

Do employers honestly expect their workers to be working all the time like that? That is just wrong I think...
Anyway, I would definitely by this for any flight above 3-4 hours. It is mainly because I can't really sleep in moving vehicles, and I get bored. :D

Benjammn

@lostarchitect: Wow, props to you for doing that. Seriously.

RE-L

@Metkis: True, but how many times can you use that excuse? lol

RE-L

@jayhawk11:

Certain Airbus models do on US Airway's fleet (even in coach), believe it or not.

I have an MSi WIND, so I pretty much have all the juice I need without plugging in (even more so for my iPhone, or Sony Reader). Still, it's nice to have the option.

darex

When asked for further comment, Mr. Wilson was quoted as saying "Dang reporter-fella! Get off my lawn!"

m4ximusprim3

@jayhawk11: seriously dude.. please shave that mustache. It's just not helping your cause.

simplegreen

I am against this, big time. Yes we can all chose not to work while flying but it leaves the door open for bosses to expect us to be able to open the latest email full of crap to move into a new excel sheet that says the same crap.

McLucky

I am just counting the seconds until someone files a lawsuit saying the WiFi microwaves are even more likely to give you cancer at 30,000 feet because the air is thinner.

Monty

@please delete me: Easy...just say first on every post and the job is done

Mike918

I don't see Mark's argument being completely valid. I always have the power to choose, thus reset people's expectation. For example, I don't want work e-mails on my smartphone. That's what I remind people. Now, they don't expect me to respond instantaneously like those Blackberry users.

In today's corporate America, many people just rush to react. Many of them don't even have clear idea the purpose.

tobedetermined

Geez you luddites. Get a grip, business travelers are usually on the clock while they're traveling, so they *should* be doing something productive. Meanwhile it's going to be about as reasonably priced as those janky in-flight phones, so nobody's going to use it anyway. Most businesses aren't going to pay for it for their employees, unless they're dumb, and in that case they'll go bankrupt anyway.

mullingitover

I have grown to hate that picture very much.

Imadoctornotapoolman

@jayhawk11: My last trip on Continental also had plugs for my trip out. Even had touch screens on the back of the seat in front of you that allowed you to pick movies and tv shows to watch, or some simple games to play.

Darkest Daze

@simplegreen: You really should let Blam's drool-worthy girlfriend decide on the 'stache:

bobdobbs

@please delete me:
is that a picture of certain beads meant to go into a certain body entrance?

net_addict

@bobdobbs: eh

simplegreen

A plane to me is one of the places I most want to disengage and forget about my surroundings, and an internet connection provides the greatest variety of means to do that. How can anyone locked in a pressurized aluminum tube not wish for a magic connection to the outside world?

I don't care if I have to work. I like working. And no force on any airline will keep me from the tiny, expensive wine bottles. So I hope my employers like work done in a slightly tipsy, restless fashion.

aratuk

That is a horrible idea; to prevent wi-fi so we dont have to work. There is such a great need for in-flight wi-fi its crazy. So many people would kill for something, anything to do on a flight!

The problem with having to do work on the plane isnt wi-fi, its your boss that forces that from you. Try looking for a new job rather than making the other 90% of the people suffer!

thetunecatt

@MrBlahBlah: oh wait, that makes no sense. i didn't see the word "not". i fail myself on that one.

MrBlahBlah

@broho: Since during take-off, the plane is within range of likely several cell phone towers, it is being bombarded by the signals coming from and going to all of those towers, not to mention all radio traffic and everything else produced near an airport. But if you turn on your iPod, the plane will likely explode instantly.

closhedbb

@Jrsy is back to being the dude, playing the dude disguised ...: My plane I fly for work has computers and communication built in! But no web-surfing, and the screens are mostly monochrome green... :(

closhedbb

@jayhawk11: Virgin America isn't exactly the cheapest airline around. If you're cost-conscious when buying your tickets, the likelihood of ending up on a Virgin America flight is less than good.

closhedbb

@Kev50027: I'm sorry Brian, but I have to agree. You look like the kid in high school who was the first to get facial hair, who grew out his 'stache and goat as much as he could at the time just because he could, not because it looked good.

For references on how a good mustache is grown, please watch "Tombstone", referencing Kurt Russell and Sam Elliott.

closhedbb