And once again the wireless industry (and the world) prepares to face the implications of the further permeation of wireless technology into our lives and culture with the pending prospect of wireless connectivity coming to airline travel.
Once the early hurrahs over the convenience for travelers and increased minutes for carriers subsided, the subject quickly turned to what would be “appropriate” use considering the tight quarters of an airplane.
You would think this would fall in the simple category of being considerate of others. But if the way half the folks on any given flight whip out and dial up their phones the minute the “fasten seatbelts” light is turned off is any indication, flights could become quite noisy if voice calling is allowed. Who knows what the repercussions of that might be!
Being considerate of others is not something that all people are familiar with.
My husband and I just shook our heads when we heard several phones ring throughout Christmas Eve Mass at our contemporary Catholic Church. You can’t expect all of those “Christmas and Easter Catholics” to know better than to turn off their phones before entering the building after all.
One phone even rang right in the middle of the sermon, but Father Mac made light of it. “That must be for me!” he quipped.
The priest always reminds the congregation before the Christmas season that the more welcoming we are to our holiday visitors the more likely they might be to join us again on some regular Sunday! That means turning your head to some behaviors.
The day after Christmas, my family attended mass at the church where my husband and I were married because of its beautiful trees and lights display. At this more traditional parish, they don’t trust everyone to know the proper phone etiquette. The cantor stood and clearly proclaimed, “Please join us in the opening hymn on page 127 and thank you for turning off your cell phones and pagers.”
We have all experienced it, the shrill (or sometimes whimsical) ring of a phone at a time and place that you don’t quite expect it. Imagine if it was in the middle of a flight right after the lady in aisle 9 finally got her crying baby to sleep.
I’m all for data access in flight. It would definitely be cool to check e-mail, access corporate data or send text messages while in flight. For those of us who still like to enjoy a good book or a good nap while soaring from coast to coast, hearing about what the guy next to you had for dinner might not be so cool.
