Well, if you guys hadn't noticed, they're now doing free wifi on the plane and bluetooth has been approved for use for a while. All new planes have been cleared for use of wireless devices for several years now. But the airlines have been playing it safe simply because they were trying to figure out how to milk this new ability and didn't want people getting any ideas that they could do it on their own. Oh no, not if an airline can nickel and dime you to death by forcing you to use their service when there's plenty of other cheaper solutions.
See, there is one thing I do not understand. If these electronic devices were SOO powerful and deadly to the poor airplane, then why are terrorists not using this?
Imagine the following scenario:
Terrorist: Everyone sit down! This is a hijacking!
Flight-Attendant: You can't take this plane down! I locked the cockpit!
Terrorist: You do not want me to use this...
Flight-Attendant: Wait...Oh god no!
Terrorist: Yes, my iPhone! With WiFi, and 3G, and Bluetooth!
Flight-Attendant: NOT BLUETOOTH! YOU WILL KILL US ALL!
See, there is one thing I do not understand. If these electronic devices were SOO powerful and deadly to the poor airplane, then why are terrorists not using this?
Not really related to airline safety, but safety procedures in general: there is a risk estimate for every operation/device. Now, from an abusers perpective, threatening with a 1 in a 1000 chance of causing some damage is useless. On the other hand, considering the number of users and frequency of a service 1 in a 1000 might be a lot. Think about it this way - imagine shouting would have a 1 in a 1000 chance of activating an airbag mid-drive. Would you care if someone in your car threatened to shout if you didn't do what he wanted ? OTOH, that same risk would mean hundreds of spontaneous traffic accidents all around the world.
Disclaimer: Whether WiFi/BT interference is a real issue in airplanes, I have no idea, I'm really not famililar with airplane electronics/nav systems.
