Digital Home Thoughts: Gizmodo Writer Tells What Grinds His Gears About Airlines

"Until airlines can speak coherently about ebooks, smartphones, tablets and other traveler-friendly gadgets—and address the various states of rest between "on" and "off"—the system remains in a sphere of stupidity. Whether this is mildly annoying or potentially deadly remains to be seen."

As much as I love gadgets, I am afraid I am going to have to side against Wilson Rothman of Gizmodo on his rather lengthy rant about using technology on airplanes. Do I think that airlines need to update their policy regarding the use of gadgets? Of course. I also recognize that I am buying a service from a company at their terms. Like it or not, airlines are not slaves to our whims or desires. Whatever their reasons for requesting that all electronics be turned off during take-off, landing or in flight are, as questionable as some of those reasons might be, are rules they they can stipulate on their service. Yes, people who are savvy with technology can easily differentiate and see the usefulness of different rules for different tech, but for simplicity, an attendant only really needs to know if a device is effectively on or off. I would not expect and attendant to be aware of every new piece of technology like I would not expect an average Joe to know what pivot tables are or the difference between left and right handed proteins. Surely we are capable of lasting a few minutes or hours without having our electronics. And for those of you who think you are being clever by "pretending" to turn your gadgets off, I applaud your sense of entitlement and savvy. It takes a lot skill and talent to fool someone who probably knows nothing or very little someone about electronics that your device is off. Okay, I've got my flame shield on. What does everyone else think?