We've been waiting ages to annoy the hell out of you by talking incessantly through a whole flight as loud as possible on our cell phones. But as of yet, it still hasn't come to pass and there are 3 reasons why: the airlines, the cell phone companies and the government. Officially cell phones are banned for two main reasons; because they could mess with the planes' electronics or because they could mess with cell towers on the ground. Even though the potential problems stemming from cell phones could be tested the FAA and FCC have refused to come up with any definitive answers over the past 20 years.
- Airlines want the ban because they don't want to deal with aggravated flyers who are tired of hearing phones ring or loud conversations. They also don't want passengers to be able to communicate with the ground in case of a terror attack or plane crash.
- Cell phone carriers want the ban so they don't have to upgrade their towers to communicate more effectively with flyers in the air.
- The Man refuses to allow cell phone use on planes out of incompetence and a lack of accountability - no official from the FAA or the FCC wants to be the guy who said cell phones were OK and then have a plane go down.
In the end, all of this posturing is absurd - about 2 million people a day fly in the U.S., if just 1 in 1000 people forget to turn off their cell phones then there are still over 2000 instances everyday of cell phones being on during flights and yet no crash has ever been determined to have been caused by a wayward cell phone. The ban will most likely stay in place for the foreseeable future as it cheaper and more convenient for all parties involved, save the passengers.
(thanks computerworld)
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