Wil Wheaton, his eReader and flying

[Hatgirl]

Wil Wheaton (formerly Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation, currently one of the Kings Of The Internet) had an irritating encounter with a grumpy flight attendant.

The words of my book were replaced with an image of Emily Dickinson.

"Um, that has to be turned off," she said, as if to a child.

"It is," I said, as if to a very stupid child.

"Why is there something on the screen?" She asked, like she'd caught a child in a lie.

"I'm not sure," I said, with exaggerated patience, "ask Amazon."

[JSWolf]

But the flight attendant was correct. The Kindle should be turned off. It has 3G and/or WiFi and ether/both could be on. It's not the flight attendant's job to check every Kindle to see that it is in airplane mode.

Now if Wheaton had a Sony (other than 900 or 950), I can see his point. But with a Kindle, he's just FAILED!

But as for stowing the Kindle, the flight attendant has FAILED!

[taustin]

The problem isn't Wheaton's Kindle, the problem is that there are tens of thousand of different electronic devices on the market that people carry on to planes with them. Some are fine to be on, some are questionable. Want the flight attendants to know how to tell if each one of them is safe? Be prepared to pay extra for your ticket, so the airline can do their research on each and every device, and pass that data on to the flight attendants.

But even more important, be prepared for the flight attendant to spend some time with each and every device verifying it is in a safe condition. Not much time per device, of course, but let's say one minute. Times (on, for instance, a 757) 180-290 passengers. That's how long your flight is delayed.

Personally, I'd rather have them just use the blanket "all electronic devices have to be turned off" that takes a few seconds for every half dozen passengers.

I think Wheaton's a bit out of line on this. His real complaint seems to be that the flight attendant was surly, which is a valid complaint. But I'm not sure he realizes that.

[SensualPoet]

If the flight attendant has not already seen hundreds of Kindles on her flights, that flight attendant has not been flying very long.

[bgalbrecht]

I don't have a Kindle, but if it's anything like the Nooks, there's a difference between it being powered off (blank screen) and sleeping (screensaver). I think the flight attendant was following FAA regulations and Wil Wheaton was wrong on this one.

[Dulin's Books]

the ebook readers i take on flight have images that can be on the screen when the device is completely off.

i agree however- flight attendant correct, Wheaton not.

[pidgeon92]

did the plane go kaboom?

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

did the plane go kaboom?

When I had my nook, I did completely turn it off the only time I ever took it on a plane. However, I do wonder what can happen if electronic devices with radio transmitters are left on during take off and landings.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by faithbw

When I had my nook, I did completely turn it off the only time I ever took it on a plane. However, I do wonder what can happen if electronic devices with radio transmitters are left on during take off and landings.

What happens? Absolutely nothing. It's been tested and proven again and again that cell phones (and a 3g nook or kindle count as cell phones) and wifi receivers do not cause any interference. Pilots now fly with iPads as replacements for paper flight books, yet the sheep in the tube have to turn off anything electronic? Something seems seriously wrong here.

The "correct" thing to do is to set your device to use a blank screensaver, so that the eink screen clears when you turn it "off" and just keep it on your lap. Then once the flight attendants strap themselves into their jump seats for takeoff, turn it back on and resume reading. You should turn off wifi/3g on the flight, but not for any ridiculous "interference" reason, but because constantly searching for a signal that doesn't exist will run your battery down too quickly.

[OtterBooks]

"Excuse me sir, I can't take that chance that you'll do to this flight what you did to Star Trek."

[stickybuns]

So... how do you turn off a Kindle? I've only every put mine into "standby" mode.

And another question: does the 3G antenna put out a signal when wireless (but not the device itself) is turned off?

JSWolf, clearly Wil wouldn't have had this problem if he had his Kindle is a proper cover

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

did the plane go kaboom?

It did and it was Wheaton from an alternate universe who was giving the feedback.

[joenunya]

Wil Wheaton is a total prima donna and maybe the worst ebook narrator on the planet. But he is [Deleted by the Moderation Team] with Scalzi so he gets work. He has zero business making comments such as this, on a plane.

Yes, his mere existence pains me greatly.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

So... how do you turn off a Kindle? I've only every put mine into "standby" mode.

Slide and hold the power switch for about 6~8 seconds and it'll shut completely down. To turn it back on, slide the power switch like normal and it'll fire up in a couple of seconds.

[Quexos]

Damn you Wil Wheaton. You are Sheldon Cooper's enemy ergo you are mine. I'm sure Sheldon must be laughing where he is. Granted Sheldon is insufferably condescending but I like him.