Disconnected – again!

Following on from my post last week, I am again disconnected, this time aboard a plane! Fortunately in this instance I am in business class (all very nice…!), so the environment is pretty good – but still there’s no connectivity of any kind!

So that is no GSM/3G/WiFi resident on board the plane, and (supposedly) with good reason – after all, we are told that it’s very dangerous for wireless devices to be on, especially during take-off and landing. The reality is that many people leave their GSM/3G mobile devices on, and likewise Bluetooth/WiFi radios enabled too.

The argument for these devices being turned off is moot as far as I am concerned, but that still doesn’t get us any closer to having some form of coverage in-flight. Of course numbers of carriers are trialling systems for both voice and data access – but nothing is widely rolled out as yet.

I’m travelling on business, and it’s an obvious inconvenience not to have coverage – flying is one of the last few bastions of disconnection in an otherwise uber-connected wireless age.

From a personal perspective it would certainly be useful to have the option of data access, as fortunately/unfortunately all of my work comes in via email – it’s scary to say, but really these days in many jobs, constant connectivity to your inbox is needed to do your job …

But what are your views on allowing voice/text/data on-board planes? Do you think it should be enabled, or would the all-to-familiar-beep of a text coming in drive you to ultimate distraction? We want to hear from you!