Survey: 74% of US Americans say NO to in-flight calling, YES to data
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 21st 2008 8:58AM
posted May 21st 2008 8:58AM
In a Harris Interactive survey of 2,030 US adults of whom, 1,778 have actually flown in an airplane, a full three quarters say that cellphone usage on airplanes should be restricted to "non-talking features." In other words, email, texting, and surfing the Web. That's a pretty significant majority seeing as how the EC has cleared the way for calls within European airspace. 69% of consumers agreed that if voice calls are permitted, a special "talking zone" should be established so that other passengers are not interrupted. While the survey reflects our own opinions, take note that the results benefit sites like Yahoo! Mobile, the very company which commissioned the survey. It's also worth highlighting a comment made by a certain Miss Teen, South Carolina who said, "That some US Americans should be unable to do so, because, uh, some-a people out there in our nation don't have cellphones, and such as, maps." Good point.
@BobTurbo
THANK you. I was about to put that. Everytime I see someone write "I could care less", I want to start smashing my face on the keyboard.
Saying "I could care less" means that you DO care about it. So many people make that mistake.
Think about it...
BobTurbo can't get no satisfaction
I wondered about that misuse of a figure of speech for a while. Finally I looked it up.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ico1.htm
As I suspected, saying "I could care less" is just wrong. Problem with English is, if enough people say something wrongly, it becomes correct.
Well, "could" means that you "could", "can", or "might", and not "do".
So, "I could care less" would mean "I can care less", etc.
Ah flying....
So we have:
-Huge lines to check in baggage.
-Near strip searches at the x-ray machine.
-Worlds worst movies and food
-Huge amounts of lost and damages luggage.
Possible short future:
-Annoying people talking on their cell phones.
What the future may hold:
-Smaller seats and less leg room.
-Less reliability
-and perhaps a kick in the balls.
What am I missing?
Random arrest and landing in the wrong place because the flightcrew (or the US) doesn't like you is what you are missing, in that list at least.
They could make you sit on the crapper.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-jetblue-travel-toilet-story,0,3402618.story?track=rss
Frequent flier here, 80+ flight segments a year. I agree - I don't want phones ringing every 3 minutes on a plane. People having inappropriate conversations 4 inches from my ear. aaarrrggh. I cannot tell you how much this scares me.
But, unfortunately, you can't have it both ways. Even dial-up data rates can support voice with the right codec.
Only 1 solution: Limit it to text/email speed. 1200baud. Maybe 2400. The service TO the plane could be broadband, but the per-device piece of pie needs to be restricted to text-only speeds. Downloading the engadget home page should take you from New York to Seattle. Or Winnipeg anyways.
I'd be fine with email/txt/PIN/BBMessenger-grade service on my Berry. Fellow travelers be warned: I WILL tell you what I think of your ring tone. :)
Seat-back units could support web surfing... the secure nature of the thin-client would allow for a browsing/online experience sans audio (or O//P only through headphone connector). This would be great for me as voicemail gets delivered to my inbox. Replies could be sent via e-mail, or via SMS-to-voice features offered by my carrier in urgent situations.
Cue everyone buying roll-up flexible bluetooth keyboards :)
I must've missed something....
How do the results of the survey benefit Yahoo! Mobile?
Voice or data - whatever. Rude people are rude people, wherever you find 'em. Heck, there are people who talk on their cell phones in movie theaters and concert halls.
So, get rude right back at 'em. Talk about their clothing, ask them questions, annoy them -- generally make yourself a pest until they shut the f*ck up.
And, as for the business guy without the "inside voice" you're sitting near, you could always swear up a storm, tell him to stop farting in your direction, accuse him of spilling his scotch all over your pants... and generally teach the b*stard a lesson by scr*wing his deal.
I'm 54, I fly a LOT, and I talk to the flight attendants. They hate those a**holes as much as you do. I'll never forget the the time that one of 'em thanked me for loudly telling a jerk to shut the f*ck up... and gave me a couple of those Jack Daniels bottles to take with me...
Data is fine but like me people I do not want to have to sit and listen to others holding a conversation, with the person speaking at the top of the lungs. At least when I am on the trains coming home from work, if the person is the phone is too loud and annoying, I can always go to another car or get off and wait for the next train. I truely believe that allow travellers to make cell calls during a flight is a danger, but not to the security of the mechanical devices employed by the plan. It could possibly be a danger to the person talk, as if they are loud and annoying enough, they could be physically harmed by the other passengers they are bothering.
so US should be banned calling in EU flights
Simple solution if you're trying to sleep or just want to shut some noisy bitch in front of you:
Pull out your phone talk REALLY loudly
"HEY. YEAH, I'M ON THE PLANE. (Pause) NO I CAN'T SLEEP, THERE'S THIS ANNOYING WOMAN IN FRONT/NEXT/BEHIND ME WHO THINK SHE OWNS THE CABIN. I WISH SHE WOULD JUST KINDLY SHUT THE HELL UP AND STAY THAT WAY. (Pause) NO I WON'T TELL HER TO SHUTUP, THAT'S RUDE. (Pause) FINE. NIGHT"
Miss Teen South Carolina is starting to get a little chunky!
"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future."
As nice as it may be to have voice uncomfortable truth is, Americans are too big of assholes and too immature to deal with voice. On the firt flight there will be that guy who is determined to have a conversation about nothing and be loud while the 4 people around him try to sleep. The stewardess will come and ask him to tone it down he is disturbing other passages and he will reply you are violating my first to freedom of speech and use of my phone. And there will be a huge fight at 30,000 feet because people in America(some people) don't know how to be respectful and play nice with others.
Keep it to data let people send their emails, read websites and watch porn/youtube.
Porn? Not debating it but you know there'll be some pervs going at it underneath their blankets and pillows. No, I did not order cream in my coffee thank you.
Theres an easy way to kill off voip. Introduce 5000 milliseconds of lag into all data transmission, plus whatever is on the (presumably) satellite link. Data packets can cope with lag a lot better than voice over ip packets. Or, purposely send the packets out of order to overrun any jitter, causing voip quality to suck.
Your web browsing will slow down a little bit but hey, you are already flying along at 500+mph, be happy you can get on the internet at all. Be ven happier that your neighbor's voip applications doesn't work well.
Lady on the left: "OMG, WTF is wrong with this kid? He needs a makeover asap! I need a new seat...I'm calling the stewardess, I have to go..bye."
Or, you know, we could keep the technology and teach people etiquette. Create a "cell phone dos and don'ts" video to go along with the exit/seat belt video. This would empower the passengers to say something to the offensive person, "Didn't you see the video? Be quiet please" and if that didn't work then you can call a flight attendant.
Maybe there is some hope for the American people after all.
When voice calls are outlawed, only VOIP outlaws will have calls!
"Listening to some moron's "OMG? Really? No! Way!""
IDK my BFF Jill?
"74% of Americans say NO to in-flight calling"
The other 26% being Paris Hilton and her slut-friends.
there will be blood
I agree that people talking on cell phones can be quite rude and annoying. Instead of lifting the in-flight ban, it should be extended to before and after take-off. More thoughts, plus tips, if interested at: http://lowtechtimes.com/2008/06/12/rude-cell-phone-use-continues-plus-11-tips-for-dealing-with-it/