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wireless game devices to be banned on planes? Japan
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:07:19 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Rod Van Meter <rdv () tera ics keio ac jp> Date: March 26, 2007 8:49:00 PM EDT To: David Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: wireless game devices to be banned on planes? Reply-To: rdv () tera ics keio ac jp Dave, for IP if you wish... Today's Daily Yomiuri reports, in a small article bylined "The Yomiuri Shimbun" (which, I believe, usually means it's a prepackaged press release from somewhere), that the Construction and Transportation Ministry has decided to restrict the use of game devices such as the Nintendo DS and Sony Playstation Portable, which have some wireless capability. The fear is that they can interfere with the plane's navigation and operation systems. Under the new guidelines, use of the devices with the wireless turned OFF will be allowed after takeoff. Flight attendants will be allowed to check that it's being used with the wireless off (though I'm fuzzy on how they expect attendants to keep track of such things). The article claims that about 200 incidents concerning "such electronic devices" (including cell phones, etc.) have been reported by domestic airlines, including one case where they claim that the autopilot may have been disabled due to inteference! Personally, I find this all extremely implausible, but then, I'm not in charge. Re: the recent fuss over cell phones on planes -- I wasn't going to put in my $0.02, but since I'm writing anyway... My first point would be to emphasize that the focus on voice conversations is misplaced. A few writers have pointed this out, but the discussion keeps drifting back to it, anyway. Nobody bans cell phones on trains here in Japan, but talking on them is frowned upon. Nevertheless, it's not uncommon for half of the people in sight to be tapping away, sending email using their phones. With that capability, a plane full of, say, kids on a school trip, would make a fortune for the phone companies and airlines, emailing back and forth from the front of the plane to the back. (I have friends here, adults, who literally use their cell phones to send email from one room of a small Japanese apartment to the other. It is SOO much a part of their communication lifestyle it's hard to describe. People can type and carry on a conversation at the same time.) But, if you want to talk about the voice conversations, what annoys people about listening to others is this: people on the phone lose track of the world around them, and don't realize it. They talk about personal details that they would die of embarrassment if a stranger knew about, and, because of limitations of the technology, speak in a loud voice and repeat themselves. The ambient noise level in a plane is high, and the connection quality will certainly be less than on the ground, making it less desirable to have a phone-chatty neighbor, for sure. But the arrival of a decent data connection on a plane seems to me to just be a matter of time, and voice is just data, right? Only social conventions will work to keep it at a reasonable level. Speaking of such social conventions, I was on a plane recently where a man was watching an erotic DVD on his laptop. You just can't make rules that anticipate every offensive or stupid thing people will do... Enough for now. --Rod P.S. For those with other interests, a top Japanese pro, Akira Watanabe, soundly beat the best computer shogi (Japanese chess) program, Bonanza, last week. Computer shogi is a LOOONG ways from as good as computer chess. P.P.S. And for other interests, Intel announced a $2.5B fab to be built in Dalian, China. Reports are that it will be operational in 2010, and likely will use a 90nm process on 300mm wafers, when Intel's leading-edge facilities are expected to be at 45nm. ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/@now Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- wireless game devices to be banned on planes? Japan David Farber (Mar 26)
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- Re: wireless game devices to be banned on planes? Japan David Farber (Mar 26)
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