Take-off, Landing, and Your Ereader -- A Poll

[curtw]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It really doesn't matter what you do or don't believe. The situation is that those ARE the rules, and you have an obligation to follow them, regardless of what your personal beliefs might be. If you can't accept that, find some other way to travel.

Precisely. And if that's not sufficient motivation to start behaving, consider the long-term consequences of this form of "civil disobedience:" if enough people complain/petition that electronics can't really mess up airplane avionics, then the FAA might just start allowing it. Then we're on a slippery slope that leads all the way to letting people talk on their cell phones in-flight. You think they're annoying on the ground? Think about how much LOUDER they'll talk in the airline cabin environment.

When I fly, I shut my mouth and turn off electronics as instructed.

[abookreader]

I went through a period where I just kept reading unless a Flight Attendant said something to me and then I would just close the cover and put it in the seat back until the ding went off. I had several flights where I know flight attendants saw me and said nothing at all. I was in the front row once 3 feet from the FA jump seats and the watched me read through landing.

Lately I've been feeling a little twitchy over and and I've been tucking it in the seat back. I don't know why. Some residual guilt over being a rule breaker I guess.

I see more and more people reading devices during the "dead time" though.

Yeah, my Kindle is an electronic device. So is my watch though and nobody ever tries to force me to shut it down.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

This. The last time I flew, the flight attendant said on the way to Spain, that I had to turn off my camera. On the way from Spain, nothing was said, while I again had the camera turned on and was pointing it outside...

Do you really think that it's necessary for the flight attendant to tell you personally to turn off your camera? Does the general announcement that electronic devices must not be used not apply to you for some reason?

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If the announcement says "electronic devices must not be used until the seatbelt sign is turned off" that seems pretty clear-cut. What is the ambiguity? Is there any doubt that a Kindle is an "electronic device"?

A pacemaker is also an electronic device. Do you think that they should be used during take-off?

This rule is a stupid rule maintained only by the inertia of bureaucracy. I only follow it because I like looking out the window during take-off and landing.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

A pacemaker is also an electronic device. Do you think that they should be used during take-off?

On the last flight I was on (an EgyptAir flight from Cairo to London) wrist-watches and pacemakers were specifically excluded from the "no electronics" rule. I'd imagine that most other airlines have similar exclusions, wouldn't you?

[tubemonkey]

Shield the cabin, wait until everyone is seated, then send an electromagnetic pulse through the plane. Problem solved.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by HarryT

On the last flight I was on (an EgyptAir flight from Cairo to London) wrist-watches and pacemakers were specifically excluded from the "no electronics" rule. I'd imagine that most other airlines have similar exclusions, wouldn't you?

This just shows that electronic devices are not a problem.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I like looking out the window during take-off and landing.

That is not really an option when you have seen the scenery 100s of times already.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Shield the cabin, wait until everyone is seated, then send an electromagnetic pulse through the plane. Problem solved.

That will get those rule breakers with their pace makers

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

This just shows that electronic devices are not a problem.

It shows that wrist-watches and pacemakers are not a problem, certainly. I guess that the fundamental issue is that the airline cannot know what sort of electronic device a passenger may bring on to the aircraft, and there may well be some which could conceivably pose a hazard to avionic systems. The only practical solution, therefore, is to enforce a "don't use electronics during take-off and landing" rule. The irritating thing is that so many people seem to consider themselves "above the law" and think that the rules don't apply to them. Really, don't you think that a public announcement should be sufficient here, rather than the cabin crew having to tell everyone individually to obey it?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

That will get those rule breakers with their pace makers

That's one group that won't fly anymore

[RDaneel54]

I used to fly about 50 - 100 times a year. The most annoying people I ran into were the ones who made or took calls on their cell phones while we were landing. Talk about thinking you're "special"!

[abookreader]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Shield the cabin, wait until everyone is seated, then send an electromagnetic pulse through the plane. Problem solved.

Good grief I already had to go through the naked machine at the TSA screening. There's a limit to wonky waves of scientific stuff I don't understand that I can handle being exposed to in the name of quick travel.

[ProfCrash]

I wait for the Flight Attendants to be in their seats for take off and I go ahead and pull it out to read.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

I've been known to tell the attendent that it's off and keep reading. Stupid rules just engender disrespect for all rules.

And people who think rules are stupid just because they don't understand them endanger everyone.