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A comment on The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes.

Re:The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes by Thrymr on Sunday September 09, 2012 @08:54AM (#4495656)
The other irritating thing about the ban is that no distinction is made between devices that transmit RF and those that do not. Granted, there are fewer and fewer devices that one is likely to carry and use on a plane that are not capable of transmitting something (e.g. wifi or bluetooth), but iPods were banned during takeoff even before they had wifi, and AFAIK portable CD players and tape players were never allowed either. It actually makes more sense now to ban everything because enforcing that they were all in airplane mode would be impossible, but 10 years ago the ban was universally applied to electronic devices and not only radio-transmitting devices.

Mostly I just want to be able to use my Kindle during takeoff and landing. Maybe it will happen:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/flight...

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Re:The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes by tatsuke95 on Sunday September 09, 2012 @09:02AM (#4495674)
>"but iPods were banned during takeoff even before they had wifi, and AFAIK portable CD players and tape players were never allowed either."

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ban on music players during take-off/landing is to ensure that the passenger can hear instructions from the flight crew.

As for phones, well, I don't shut mine off, either.

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Re:The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes by vacri on Sunday September 09, 2012 @11:07AM (#4495957)
Also, a blanket ban during takeoff (seriously, it doesn't take that long!) avoids arguments with cabin crew about whether or not your device has wifi or not. Are cabin crew really supposed to keep current on all models of new personal electronic devices?
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Re:The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes by erichocean on Sunday September 09, 2012 @01:15PM (#4496286)
First, the ban is not just "during takeoff". It's actually from the time the pilot leaves the gate, until well into the air. If there's any delay getting on the runway, it's easily 45 minutes or longer, and the usual wait is closer to 20 minutes.

Both ends of the flight. On short flights, you'll spend more times without your smartphone on then you will with it.

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Re:The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes by rjsw on Sunday September 09, 2012 @11:38AM (#4496019)
The headphone cable for a music player can radiate at certain frequencies.
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Re:The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes by rdtsc on Sunday September 09, 2012 @10:02AM (#4495788)
Is there a ban on earplugs or taking sleeping pills?
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Re:The ban on electronic devices rests on anecdotes by mayneack on Sunday September 09, 2012 @12:00PM (#4496077)
For my ad-supported kindle, even when it's "off" it's still on. I almost never actually hold down the button to turn it all the way off, it's just displaying an ad.
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