Community Bubble
The FCC and FAA are discussing allowing cell phones on planes.
Just when air travel seems to have become our national gripe, along comes a possibility to make us appreciate flight as we now know it: A cabin full of people talking, loudly and simultaneously, on their cell phones.
Hear the prayer of frequent flier Bill Kalmar of Lake Orion, Mich.: “There are so few places these days where we can escape cell phones, pagers, BlackBerrys and CNN. Please let my airline flight be the last comfortable, quiet cocoon that is left to me where I can get lost in my own thoughts.”
Fortunately they are asking for feedback before they make any decision.
Besides the large annoyance factor of having multiple people scream over the noise of a plane at 30,000 feet, there’s something else that troubles me about this.
Planes are one of the last vestiges of pure social interaction. Since cell phones and other communication methods aren’t allowed, you are nearly forced to talk to people. I regularly interact with the people in the seat next to me, simply to have something to do. I doubt I’m alone in this, and I would be surprised if this dropped off siginificantly if anyone could make a phone call.
Oh, and for crying outloud, how annoying would this be??
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3 Responses to “Community Bubble”
As much as I hate listening to other people yammer on their phones, I don’t think it’s the FAA’s job to make airplanes the “last safe place”. The reason cells were banned from planes was the fear of interference with cockpit instruments. Since that’s utter crap (or at least it is these days), there’s no reason to continue the ban.
I’m all for limiting cell phone use in many places, airplanes included, but if you’re doing it, do it for the actual reasons, not for some crap.
I also think there’s a valid terrorism concern. I’d hate to think that an air attack could be coordinated on board.
And I don’t think that blocking the annoyance factor is any less valid than non-smoking sections. Or not allowing cell phones in movies.
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I totally agree. Sitting next to a cell-phone chatter while your ears pop with altitude should be classified as cruel and unusual punishment.