Twice during a flight — first before takeoff, and then again before landing — come the dreaded words: “Please turn off your electronic devices.” Passengers must then stow away their tablets, e-readers, laptops — “anything with an on-off switch.”
This shutdown ritual has been the law for years. But with electronic use now embedded in travelers’ ways of life — it’s how many prefer to work and read — federal regulators must finally find ways to let passengers use their devices for the entirety of a flight.
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Nah, bad idea. If anything goes wrong, all those hard sided tablets and computers flying around the cabin at high velocity become missles. The fact is aircraft do veer off runways coming to sudden stops and other emergencies where it is best to have everything secured. When those happen, during take off and landing, no one has time to run up and down the aisle telling passengers to stow gear.
If you can't live without your device for a few minutes, think about talking to a shrink or taking up yoga.
As for "productivity"? GIVE ME A BREAK! Watching movies and playing games do not count on the productivity scale. What drivel. Next we will hear that those few minutes will make us more competitive with the Chinese.
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HHK: There IS a cure for the moronic cell phone users. Long ago, I decided that they actually had no right to privacy in public places, it seems that the Supreme Court agrees with me! So what I do when they get annoying is just start commenting on their conversation. Or, I have been known to start conducting a conversation with someone else right next to them.
They get all annoyed because there is this old thing about "I am on the phone!" (everyone else is supposed to respect that) Hah! Want privacy? Go find a phone booth.
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