Rather like goal-line technology in football or the use of DRS in cricket, once new technologies are finally accepted there is no going back, however long it took for them to be implemented. So it appears to be so for internet connectivity on flights.
While time doesn’t pass quickly on a flight if you’re travelling alone, it appears we are so desperate to use the internet on planes that we will do almost anything to use it. A report this week from Honeywell Aerospace says that 90% of travellers would give up legroom, preferred seats and even toilet amenities to use the internet.
Another one in five travellers would even completely forgo the use of toilets to use the internet; yes, they would prefer to piss themselves. Moreover, one-third of respondents said it would be worse to get disconnected from Wi-Fi multiple times during a flight than to sit next to a crying baby.
This is all probably good news for airlines who literally have a captive audience who will do anything to use the internet. Expect flights to be more expensive, rivers of urine to flow down the aisles and people sitting with their legs in the air.
As for me, I’m going to need a bigger boat.
* The research was conducted among more than 3,000 adults in the UK, US and Singapore who have used in-flight Wi-Fi within the past 12 months
Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.
