http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/ Engadget Comments for Boeing disconnecting Connexion http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/Aug 17th 2006 4:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/its quite obvious why this hasnt worked... it doesnt take an MBA to realize that if we had power in all seats we'd be more likely to pay for the service

i would buy it for every transcontinental flight im on if it were available, and there was a power supply... now they are going to disconnect all those great airlines

im angry]]>Aug 17th 2006 4:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
Um, not quite. No restrictions on electronics anymore.]]>Aug 17th 2006 5:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/Aug 17th 2006 6:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/But given that passengers still aren't trusted to use metal knives and forks, surely a heavy, blunt laptop could do untold damage if placed in the wrong hands? ;-)

I agree with Ryan, - more Power sockets in classes other than business and less treating me like a criminal when I turn on a CD player or PDA would probably made a difference.]]>Aug 17th 2006 6:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/Aug 17th 2006 6:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
Think about it - if there is an average of 2 people using the service on a transcontinental flight they basically have a dedicated sattelite uplink and all of the air/ground support that goes with that factoring into their price.]]>Aug 17th 2006 6:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/(At last as far as Luftansa goes.)]]>Aug 17th 2006 6:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
I would pay a reasonable rate on my transatlantic and transpacific flights. However, I can only be tempted to do so when my seat has a power plug. No power, means no sale. It should not require a lot of intellect to make that simple connection! ]]>Aug 17th 2006 6:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
If they don't pull it off, Airbus will.

Get it together Boeing.

]]>Aug 17th 2006 7:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/Mar 22nd 2007 12:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/ Chicago flight. Being able to surf the web made the trip go by a lot faster.

I agree however, that the service is too expensive. $10 for one hour is a little steep. Why not make it cheaper to start off?

In case anyone was wondering, the service works with Palm OS, too. Even though it doesn't mention it, it worked with my LifeDrive flawlessly.]]>Aug 17th 2006 10:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
I would absolutely pay $5/hour on shorter 2-5 hour flights to keep up with client emails, etc.]]>Aug 18th 2006 11:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
Until there's power in the whole of the aircraft, there's no point in dropping the price, because there would be no commensurate increase in the user base.

All that said, this freaking sucks, since it was a great system.]]>Aug 18th 2006 11:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
Market research said there was a big market for this service with a 44% take rate.

But user actions suggest otherwise. Notice how Verizon cancelled its Airfone service because of low usage.

If you watch people on airplanes, here is what they do:
Snooze,
Booze,
Eat,
Watch movie,
Listen to iPod,
Read.

Note the mushrooming of portable DVD player and DVD movie rental kiosks at airports.

Looking at the Boeing's service through our Disruption Scorecard, it would score two poor grades which were warning signs.

Details:
http://www.ondisruption.com/my_weblog/2006/08/boeing_pulls_pl.html]]>Aug 18th 2006 12:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/It's a given that more inseat power is essential, but another option would have been to better integrate the service with existing inflight entertainment systems. Many airlines have quite sophisticated systems, some have even experimented with SMS using the regular wired handset. With a little forethought, it would have been comapritively easy to add a web browser with an extensive selection of bookamarks. Though cumbersome, entering a URL or even usung webmail is possible with existing controls - not elegant perhaps but certainly a good way to kill 12 hours!!]]>Aug 18th 2006 10:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
Bottom line to all those fans of the service: it doesn't matter how much you personally like it. Uptake by US airlines was a necessary precondition to generate volume, as were much more reasonable pricing plans. To break even, Connexion required 400x as many users as they had signed up. Faced with the prospect of at least a $200M loss in 2007, increasing competition from cheaper land-to-air technology, and uncertainty as to when, if ever, the US majors would live up to their original commitment to outfit 1,500 planes, McNerney made the only sensible business decision.

see:
http://thewaythingsare.typepad.com/antimarketer/2006/08/boeing_booboo.html]]>Aug 30th 2006 2:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
Once the hardware is in place, how expensive can it be to run???]]>Sep 8th 2006 4:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/
Our solution is to link all the commercial aircraft in the sky as flying repeaters, (or very low earth orbit satellites)to carry the bandwidth.

Exactly the concept of Internet... BCA (Broadband over Commercial Airlines) not only provide wireless services in flight but also provide services down on ground.

At 30,000 ft in the sky, BCA covers 600miles in diameter, BCA, (again not just in-flight) could provide a huge area of coverage that normall cellphone wouldn't.

Thank you all for this introduction, please comment...

Joe on behalf of BCA 310-832-4911
www.teleavionics.com]]>Dec 31st 2006 6:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/17/boeing-disconnecting-connexion/Aug 1st 2007 3:15PM