I’m sitting on a flight to London at the moment, returning from vacation, and I’m quite glad that I brought my iPad because British Airways is playing a terrible movie: Wrath of the Titans.
I prepared for this flight last night by downloading a game and four TV episodes. You just can’t trust that airplanes are going to have good movies or shows. The iPad has spoiled me: why should I have to watch the schlock that the airlines have decided will appeal to a broad range of passengers when I’d rather play Fieldrunners 2 and watch “Alphas”?
A quick survey of fellow passengers reveals that I’m not alone. While BA’s overhead screens display terrible CG monsters that no one cares about, most people on this flight seem to be largely ignoring them. My best guess is that there is 1 iPad for every 4 people on this plane and a myriad of other devices (Game Boys, Samsung tablets, Kindles, paper books, etc.). We are no longer at the mercy of the airlines for our entertainment.
And yet, I can’t help but wonder how much BA paid for this movie. How much extra fuel does it cost to move these un-watched televisions across the ocean? When will they give me what a really want … A convenient way to hook my iPad, at a good viewing angle, on the seat in front of me (and a place to charge my battery). Much like cars, airplanes’ tech is out of date as soon as it goes into production. Wouldn’t the airlines be wiser to make it easier for us to use our own devices and our own entertainment rather than to try to match pace in a technology and content race they are bound to lose?
Bring Your Own Entertainment.
