I picture it now. Terrorists boarding flight after flight with their mobiles on thinking, this time it will work.

That would have made a pretty funny punchline to a sketch. Suspicious looking guy (better band of suspicious looking guys) getting the full TSA workup/cavity search etc. Finally gets on board, everyone watching him suspiciously etc. Some sort of minor tussle with obvious plain clothes security who's reseated next to him by a concerned stewardess. Etc. When it's time to take of he fakes turning on airplane mode/powering down when placing it into the seat pocket. He smirks knowingly, closes his eyes and dreams about his field of virgins.

That's a very weird view of things. Do you really think this rule exists without a reason? Why not just follow the rules and turn your devices off, it's not going to hurt you, but a crash could.

Some might find, on the other hand, that it is a very weird view to not question rules before obeying them. For many readers here, there has no doubt been some awareness of the questions surrounding these flight rules, since this sort of topic (it's about our gizmos!) is going to be front-and-centre for many of us.

The rule existed due to uncertainty. We have now eliminated that uncertainty.