Using ebook readers on aeroplanes?

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Why allow electronics devices on planes at all then ?

It's only a real issue during takeoff/landing, not the entire flight. That's usually when they require you to turn them off.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

It's only a real issue during takeoff/landing, not the entire flight. That's usually when they require you to turn them off.

It's taking quite a bet that the people will actually obey...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Why allow electronics devices on planes at all then ?

Exactly!

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

It's taking quite a bet that the people will actually obey...

True, but the airline is probably more interested in liability than they are in your life.

[WarningU2]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Quite frankly, anyone who actually feels unduly inconvenienced when asked to turn his or her reader off during takeoff and landing is likely pathologically self-absorbed.

Yep that's me full of myself.



I think we would all be better off to get on a plane naked without any electronics and hand cuffed. That would guarantee we will arrive safe and sound without disturbing others or the plane.

Great discussion here ... thanks.

[Mickey330]

I just returned from a trip where the pilot (Delta Airlines), when asking people to turn off their electronic devices, specifically stated that it included Kindles, Nooks, iPads and iPods.

I think he mentioned more, but I was busy putting away my PB360... :-)

Marilyn

[dmacmart]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Quite frankly, anyone who actually feels unduly inconvenienced when asked to turn his or her reader off during takeoff and landing is likely pathologically self-absorbed.

It's fine when a flight is on time, take off and landing take what, 10 minutes each? But when there are schedule changes and your plane has to wait or taxi around on the ground, or remain in the air, for half an hour or more, you really wish you could read. Especially on the ground, couldn't the electronic device cutoff time be moved to when your plane is actually taking off, not just in queue?

Originally Posted by Mickey330

I just returned from a trip where the pilot (Delta Airlines), when asking people to turn off their electronic devices, specifically stated that it included Kindles, Nooks, iPads and iPods.

First time I flew with my eReader, they mentioned those things and more explicitly, then said "Any electronic device with an ON/OFF switch must be in the OFF position." No question, my little Kobo had to be turned off.

[Pinecone]

It is not just the wifi/3G, it is the processor. They are even making you turn off noise cancelling headsets. The processor has a clock, and since it is clocked, it is radiating a signal. With more and more aircraft becoming more and more electronic, it is a possibility.

One reader or other device is not a problem. 100 or 200 or 500 (A380) MIGHT be a problem. And there is no way to test the possible combinations of devices and locations within the aircraft.

The FAA requires the operator (airline) to only allow them if they have tested to ensure there are no issues. And since they can't do the testing required, you turn them off.

And if everyone ignored, you might just find out that you are part of a combination that causes serious issues, by being in the headlines as a fatality in an airline crash.

[Bricorn]

How DO you turn off a Kindle?

The switch is supposed to work;
Quick flick = sleep
Hold for 7 seconds = off
Hold for 20 seconds plus = restart

"off" does give a white screen, but the device wakes as fast from there as from sleep, which leads me to believe that it's just a "sleep with a white screen" setting.

A wake from a real off should surely take at least as long as a restart and show the start-up screens while it's doing it.

Any BMs out there who can shed light on this?

[elcreative]

Come on people, why let anyone on aircraft, and what about the cargo... get rid of both and there go all your supposed hazards... planes can now fly safely everywhere...

Mostly it's like the "turn your mobile phone off in hospitals" rubbish, recently admitted that it was unnecessary just cya, now there's been some tests it seems it's rubbish... now you electronics may get fried by stuff in hospitals (MRI, X-Ray machines etc) but your phone does zip to them...

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Come on people, why let anyone on aircraft, and what about the cargo... get rid of both and there go all your supposed hazards... planes can now fly safely everywhere ...

Unmanned like the X-47B ... but with a less hazardous cargo!

[JSWolf]

The thing is, do you want someone saying to the stewardess that the device that person is using is safe and the stewardess saying.."Oh then that's OK, keep on using it" and then finding out it's not? They don't know about every electronic device and that means they all have to go off. Yes, I find it annoying knowing my Sony Reader is not an issue. But do I do it? Yes, I do it. I do it because I don't want someone else not doing it with a device that's not safe.

[Shaggy]

FYI,

Honeywell Avionics has confirmed that its Phase 3 Display Units used by pilots in Boeing 737 aircraft are susceptible to "blanking" in the presence of Wi-Fi equipment.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/wi-fi-proven...-339311113.htm

[SameOldStory]

That's the first solid info I've seen. And I agree with Jon. I turn my reader off when it's requested on the pa system.


On the other hand we have this from cnet;

iPads could replace paper charts in airline cockpits

I've just started using a flight simulator and recently tried putting a few charts on my reader. Do able, but an iPad would be a lot better.

[Barcey]

And yet the FAA OK's iPads for Pilots. Maybe they're more concerned about the WiFi interfering with their Angry Birds game.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/02/faa-ipad/