Technology In The Sky
In my opinion, there haven’t been many positive improvements in air travel. Yeah, you can now use wireless internet, but that’s about it. Which is interesting because we have seen increases in ticket prices.
Check out this ARTICLE/VIDEO on a UK technology that could be launched in 10 or so years.
Thoughts?
Though the technical aspects of this idea kind of went over my head, I just don’t see this idea actually happening. The article mentioned that it came about to ultimately reduce the airline prices for flyers and that just doesn’t seem realistic to me. Where will the funding come from to change all the planes to this new model? I’m assuming that prices will go up once again before they go down. As you have mentioned, when wireless internet became available on planes, the prices went up. So I am in disbelief that making this change will decrease the overall price. Not to mention the thought sounds a bit scary. In previous times when I have rode on the plane I wanted to sit next to the window so I can have a view, I don’t think I’d want to anymore though. Maybe I would need to fully understand the technical aspects of this idea before I could give a final decision, but I don’t think I like this idea.
On the surface this sounds like something pretty cool. Though, I would rather look out a window the old fashioned way. What bothers me about this technology is I am 100% certain these screens will fill up with advertisements. Wouldn’t that be a crappy thing, to be in a plane looking out the “window,” and you can’t take in the view before you watch a commercial that may or may not have anything to do with what you’re looking at? Ads will zoom up to you from behind clouds, up from farmers fields and cities, and you will have to watch them, maybe like how Youtube requires you to watch its ads before the content.
There are always ever more ingenious ways for marketers to catch our attention. There is something similar already in the works for subway trains, that beam advertisements into your head with a vibrating transmitter attached to windows. Rest your head on the window, and bone conduction transmits the vibrations to audio for your own personal little advertisement. I would rather things like this didn’t exist and I was left to travel in peace.
Here’s a link to the subway story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/train-window-ads_n_3535574.html
I think this idea is a little bizarre. Personally, I would be very apprehensive to get on a plane that had no windows. I like the window seat so that I can see everything outside, and I didn’t have that, well I would thoroughly dislike flying. Even though the article mentioned that without windows, the cost of fares would go decrease, I don’t foresee that happening. I’m sure the creators would find a way to sneak in a fee of some kind.
My thoughts on this technology is neutral. First of all, I think if they took all the windows out, it would really cause your stomache to tickle looking at a screen while you are launching. Personally, I do not like roller coasters or anything that involves heights. However, I do like to fly, but only if I can look out the window to see where we are going. Even when I am on a plane and not sitting next to the window, I tend to still turn my head towards the window so I know where I am going. I do think this would be really neat to have this technology on the planes, but I would want them to keep the windows too.