A post over at Web Worker Daily explored once again the idea of using cell phones in flight. I’ve explored the topic before myself, as well as why I can’t watch videos on my iPod Touch during take off and landing.
I can’t say I’ve done a lot of research into this issue, but I still can’t recall ever having heard a reason why cell phones can’t be used in flight other than the unproven (my background is in electronics, communications and IT) “It might screw with the plane’s instrumentation” and the emotionally charged “I don’t want to sit next to the self-important sumbitch who talks too loud on his phone!”
I have heard one more reason, which I still consider personally related and not exactly solid ground to build policy on: “Why can’t I have one place where nobody can call me?” I’m not saying that reason isn’t groundless, but it is still emotionally charged. Honestly, if I don’t want to take a call, (lean in closer because I’m about to share with you an ancient secret) I don’t. Seriously, I either shut off the radio on my phone (sometimes called “Flight Mode”) or I hit the “ignore” when I see a call pop up. That’s why I’m paying for voice mail. GE Money called me during a meeting this afternoon because they can’t get my Lowe’s card straight. I hit “Ignore” and called them back later after I had time to deal with them. Sometimes my wife calls me and it’s not a good time to take that call. That’s OK, and it’s why we finally broke down and got text messaging. An incoming phone call is your time, and you can take ownership of that time and dispense it accordingly. Don’t be a jerk about it, but also don’t get jerked around by every interruption. They’re not all created equal.
At this end of this post, I still don’t have a good reason why cell phones *shouldn’t* be allowed to be used on planes. No, I’m not exactly advocating for their use, but I would like to see better reasons why they can’t be used.
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