Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by ams6110 on Monday November 28, 2011 @12:18AM (#3284648)

Unless you are going a long way, it may well be faster to drive. For me: 1 hour drive to the airport, 1+ hours at the airport for check-in, security, etc, 1 hour at destination to retrieve baggage, get a rental car, and get out of the airport... plus the time of the flight. If I can drive in under 6 hours, I'll seriously consider doing that rather than deal with all the hassle of air travel.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by fosk on Monday November 28, 2011 @01:12AM (#3284797)

Except that if you drive for 6 hours, you can't talk on the phone and you can't use your laptop. Your point doesn't make sense to me: if you're willing to drive for 6 hours, you're also willing to stop working during all that time, while if you flight you'll always find some time to work, at the terminal or in the plane.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by bad_user on Monday November 28, 2011 @03:45AM (#3285138)

If driving you can talk on the phone for the whole 6 hours. I did something similar at least once.

Also, the driver can't use a laptop, but because of the driving activity itself, the driver is not so easily bored. Boredom is the main reason why I power on my laptop on a plane. Also, the other passengers can easily work on a laptop, watch a movie and so on. If you've got a 3G connection, the passengers can also go online - even I as the driven, I often find myself checking my emails while driving, plus I'm connected on Skype for the whole ride. The only problem here may be the comfort of your car, as you'll have problems having a laptop in your lap if the car is a small one. I also never get anything done on a plane when trying to work, especially because I don't have Internet connectivity, so I would rather listen to Podcasts or read a book and when driving Audio books are great btw.

So, related to comfort, I always prefer a couple of hours in my 10-year old Audi A6 over a plane ride. If the car ride is longer than some threshold, like the mentioned 6 hours, I do agree that a plane ride is better.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by viraptor on Monday November 28, 2011 @06:39AM (#3285482)

> even I as the driven, I often find myself checking my emails while driving

Why would you ever do that? If you don't care about your safety, at least make sure you're less likely to kill others, please...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by bad_user on Monday November 28, 2011 @08:19AM (#3285705)

Oh, cut the drama. I use text 2 speech.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by viraptor on Monday November 28, 2011 @06:22PM (#3288092)

I guess that even for short messages rather than interaction, some of this applies: http://www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab/cdir489.pdf

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by mikeklaas on Monday November 28, 2011 @04:16AM (#3285200)

Change your name to "bad_driver" already.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by vl on Monday November 28, 2011 @01:59AM (#3284910)

It's actually reverse: you can talk on the phone in a car, but not on the plane (at least for reasonable rate).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why by tryitnow on Monday November 28, 2011 @12:38AM (#3284712)

That's exactly how I view, although I put a pretty heavy negative weight on the hassles of navigating around airports, finding parking, gates, etc. With driving I feel a lot more in control. Driving is also a continuous activity, there's minimal transition times (e.g. With flying you've got find a place to park, find your gate, etc).

[ Parent | on HN ]