What Am I Going To Do For Six Hours?

I read Michael Parekh and Jeff Jarvis on the subject of flying cross country or, worse internationally, without laptops, blackberries, and iPods this morning.

This is huge deal for me. I carry multiple batteries so I can use my laptop for the entire flight. I use my blackberry and iPod too. There are four things I wont fly without; laptop, iPod, Blackberry phone, and a bottle of water. Now all of them are at risk of being forbidden.

Jackson has some advice for me in his comments to my post yesterday on this subject.

I say we all travel naked.  A sort of 'get to know your neighbor' program.

As long as food and beverage is provided, and reasonable, on the plane, then I see no reason for grumbling.

Far too many people exceed a reasonable amount of carry-on anyway.

I'd love to see no carry-on luggage.

You are allowed a book.

A book doesn't cut it for me. I need to create as well as consume. I like his first suggestion better.

Comments

[Dave]

Well you shouldn't be flying in planes anyway. Global warming and all.

An inconvenient truth. Or do you finally realize it's all lies?

[Charlie Crystle]

Right, Dave. It's just a big hoax perpetrated by the enviro-industrial complex designed so siphon off precious dollars from the oil industry. Your blog so insightfully dismisses Valdez environmental disaster as what, "prattling" by enviros. but I digress.

Fred, can you bring a pen? Are the airlines providing magazines? Maybe you can start a social experiment--start a roung, play charades, fart in unison. Break into groups and form a mock government. Play 20 questions, or hold a hold em tournament. Ask the flight attendant for a pen when you get
on board. Take a chill pill and dream. Paint on the bathroom mirror with the hand soap. Sing. Get to know everyone on the plane. Hold polls. Ask how many use delicious.

I'm with ya, man. I'm a two-battery, music-listening, programming bundle of nervous airplane energy. Not sure how to handle it.

[Fred Destin]

whatever happened to, i don't know, let's call it "disconnected thinking" ? isn't it great to have enforced downtime some times ? to be non real time for 6 hours ? to let your system cool down from constant exposure ? to do a mindmap with pen and paper ? to be forced to read something that is entirely irrelevant to what you do ?

[J R Mortland III (Bob)]

looks like 6 hours of reading...

[J R Mortland III (Bob)]

looks like 6 hours of reading...

[jake]

hmm-- i flew to LA yesterday, and brought my computer, mobile gear, three cameras, and all the usual wiring, and had no problems getting through security or on the plane. my wife, on the other hand, made the mistake of buying a yogurt at the hudson newstand at JFK-- they were all over her like a SWAT team at the gate.

so that's a pretty good thumbnail of the current travel situation: heavy electronics are fine-- but try to bring on a cultured milk product, and you're f'ked.

[steve]

You need to create? Bring a notebook.

[chris]

you probably wouldn't even be allowed a book if it's a book on terrorism

[nono]

are you sure it is only going to be 6 hours? I have had a laptop and cell phone stolen from my check-in baggage...

[Scott]

Nono nailed my biggest concern: the security of my personal property. Forget not having anything to do on the plane during the flight (I tend to fall asleep, anyway -- but, that's just me, apparently). I couldn't imagine sticking electronic "thief magnet" items in my checked luggage -- my *unlocked* checked luggage. Is the airline and the TSA going to guarantee that nothing will be damaged or stolen from my *unlocked* checked luggage -- that my laptop, cell phone, iPod, PDA, and digital camera will still be there and functioning when I arrive at my final destination? I didn't think so.

As for carry-on luggage, well, after having lost too much luggage over the years on different airlines, we now *only* travel with carry-on luggage (and, yes, it's *one* regulation-sized bag that fits under the seat). A ban on carry-on luggage would completely alter the way we travel now. I realize far too many people stretch the term "carry-on" to extremes (boy, do I know), but that is the airlines' fault -- there are very explicit guidelines about carry-on luggage, it's just that the airlines often do not enforce them.

We're already seeing *major* pushback by the airlines on these knne-jerk reactions. I don't see the "no carry-on" bans lasting much longer and we're already seeing the TSA loosen the "no liquids" policy.

[Rick]

Mad Libs.

[greg]

You link to Jarvis and must be channeling him when you refer to reading a book as "consuming." I love creating and mashups and all that good stuff, but I think we're in danger of devaluing great art, literature, etc. by dismissing it as just stuff to be consumed. As if anything that we don't have a hand in creating is second-rate. In fact, reading a great book is an intellecutal challenge, not a passive act.For 99.99 percent of time on earth, civilized man has done alright with a good book. I love all the same gadgets, but can't we take a page (pardon the dead-tree reference) from the great philosophers and just be alone with a great book, or even just our toughts, for a while?

[Tony Alva]

Amen Greg, last cross country flight I took my kid fell asleep right after take off and the portable DVD player became available for my wife and I to use. Oddly enough, even though we'd brought along some great flix to watch we elected to read the entire duration of the flight taking a brief break to chat every now and again.

"...but I think we're in danger of devaluing great art, literature, etc. by dismissing it as just stuff to be consumed."

I've made the same statement with regards to digital music services. Every song ever recorded for $12.99 a month. Talk about devaluation.

[jackson]

Your addictions are your problem, not the airline's, or the TSA. Don't want something stolen, don't bring it with you.

People get used to luxuries and mistakenly think they are rights.

[Chris Yeh]

The naked solution is simple, and represents a great opportunity for the airlines.

What the airlines should do is provide a Web browser and keyboard for every passenger, and charge for access.

With wikis, Bloglines, TypePad, Writely, etc., there's no reason you can't do everything you need off of what Larry Ellison once called a network computer.

I'd gladly pay an extra $50 for a broadband Web terminal, if the alternative was watching the in-flight movie.