Will Paying for Wi-Fi Fly?
With great interest, I recently read a NY Times article on “Airborne Wi-Fi May Soar Despite the Doubters“. As most of you know, Brad and I have been doing a little lot of traveling 
around the country live streaming and participating in RE BarCamps. Admitted REBC junkies, we have logged quite a few frequent flyer miles spread across a number of air carriers. Because taking care of our awesome Dakno clients is job #1, it requires we stay constantly “wired” to what’s happening with our many real estate web design projects back at our offices. So you can see why this article caught my eye.
The “Connectivity” Gets Deeper!
What you may not know is the fact that I’m a retired (2002) sales and marketing rep for Delta Airlines. Obviously, all this technology and the air lines hits very close to home for me. Another interesting piece to this puzzle is that Brad’s brother-in-law is an employee with Plexus. This company is one of the major technology players who developed the infrastructure to make Wi-Fi a reality on air planes today.
My Perspective from Up There!
All that being said, here is my take on whether or not paid Wi-Fi will fly. Do I pay for Wi-Fi when I fly? Heck yeah, especially if the flight is a couple of hours in length. Remaining 
productive even while jetting across the fruited plain is a priority for me. I expect others feel the same way. Then again, if the flight is an hour or less, by the time you drag out the laptop, and boot it up (Vista machines can take forever), the flight attendant is announcing we have been cleared to land.
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Do You Purchase Wi-Fi When It’s Available on Your Flight?
I’m interested in knowing.
Safe travels,
Bobby
September 4th, 2009 at 9:16 am
But doesn’t a wireless signal crash the plane? Every day millions of travelers turn their cell phones off during flights only to see the cabin staff walk around with handheld wireless credit card machines now that most airlines don’t take cash. Now we can get wireless access? Will they (the airlines) finally admit that having your cell phone on doesn’t impact flight safety?
Honestly though I think this is a great thing, I would like to be able to work on a plane and that requires good connectivity. As to cell phones, if it stops people having LOUD conversations then perhaps that’s a good reason to stop their use
September 4th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I’m with you Stephen. I can handle the constant chatter of the keyboard in a cabin. Can you imagine adding multiple cell phone conversations to the mix. Then again, a day may come when cell phone users can chat it up in the Cell Phone Section in the back of the plane! Of course, that gives rise to more fees an AL can charge to enjoy that “luxury” of cell usage.
September 5th, 2009 at 12:01 am
[...] you read my previous post on the question “Will Paying For Wi-Fi Fly“, you already know that the Dakno Dudes are all about the RE BarCamp craze. Because we are [...]
September 5th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Bobby,
I think that frequent business flyers will definitely pay for it — If I were flying a lot, I would definitely want to increase the productivity of that time. I also think that on long flights, customers will pay. I would have definitely shelled out the bucks to use my laptop while flying over to Hawaii. It was a long flight and they had on demand TV and gaming consoles, but I’ll take my laptop over any other electronic entertainment any day. I can watch live baseball games, do a little work, connect with friends on social media sites etc…