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How Inflight Wifi Works

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Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#31

Post by pavel_lishin »

ghaff wrote: post #19
pavel_lishin wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? I use Google Play for music because it's pretty okay at letting me cache local music on my phone, but I have no idea how well Rdio, Spotify, or Pandora do that. I don't think there's a way to do it on your computer at all, so if you only have a work phone that you don't keep music on, streaming music might be your only option if…

>Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? Um, yes? It doesn't really seem like a huge deal. On the other hand, I have a fairly large music library on my phone and carry a tablet for movies and other things.

Netflix and Hulu don't support offline caching as far as I'm aware. And I can't run cat5 from my house to a flight. And buying a season of something to download from, e.g., Amazon seems silly when Netflix and Hulu offer it as part of their regular service - now that's like forgoing to pack a suitcase and just buying things on the go again.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#32

Post by aroch »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #31
ghaff wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? Um, yes? It doesn't really seem like a huge deal. On the other hand, I have a fairly large music library on my phone and carry a tablet for movies and other things.

Netflix and Hulu don't support offline caching as far as I'm aware. And I can't run cat5 from my house to a flight. And buying a season of something to download from, e.g., Amazon seems silly when Netflix and Hulu offer it as part of their regular service - now that's like forgoing to pack a suitcase and just buying things on the go again.

Amazon Prime video does though

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#33

Post by ghaff »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #31
ghaff wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? Um, yes? It doesn't really seem like a huge deal. On the other hand, I have a fairly large music library on my phone and carry a tablet for movies and other things.

Netflix and Hulu don't support offline caching as far as I'm aware. And I can't run cat5 from my house to a flight. And buying a season of something to download from, e.g., Amazon seems silly when Netflix and Hulu offer it as part of their regular service - now that's like forgoing to pack a suitcase and just buying things on the go again.

Amazon does support offline caching--at least on their own tablets. And there's almost always a season of something I want to watch that isn't available streaming. I've also been known to rip DVDs and import them. The bottom line is that I can find plenty of things to watch that don't require double-buying.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#34

Post by Scottopherson »

beachstartup wrote: post #22

does anyone know a highly reliable mobile satellite internet solution? price is less-ish of an object but i've been looking for something to take with me on extended camping trips and remote locations to do work or for emergencies (also thinking of buying property somewhere without good wired internet). haven't found much so far except for extremely expensive (5-figure) expedition type rigs.

I'm interested in this too. I could take a lot more camping trips if I could video chat w/ coworkers from remote locations.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#35

Post by greggyb »

bitwize wrote: post #24
btrask wrote: post #13

While on a flight recently, I realized... Why doesn't Google sponsor free in-flight WiFi? It would be much easier than Google Fiber or Project Loon, and it would let them deliver more ads to a fairly wealthy group of people.

Because the (American) airlines will say no. Or, they will accept the offer and then charge $12 per seat anyway. I think they get perverse joy out of nickel and diming people to death. When not-uncomfortable seats are a premium feature, there's nothing they won't charge for.

American travelers tend to purchase tickets based solely on price. If your consumers are very price conscious, you move as much as you can out of the base price.

Don't blame airlines in the US, blame airline customers.

Personally, I like the nickel-and-dime scheme, as you call it. I rarely take cross country flights. My typical travel is 3-4 hours of flying at the most. I absolutely prefer a cheaper base ticket price, because I don't care if they give me crappy food for "free" in that time frame. At 6'2", I fit comfortably even in Spirit's closely-spaced seating. I travel very light and typically have a single bag.

For me, a lower base fare with extra charges for the rest is something I prefer. I am very happy that the US air-traveling market agrees with me and has pushed the industry in this direction.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#36

Post by rconti »

greggyb wrote: post #35
bitwize wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the (American) airlines will say no. Or, they will accept the offer and then charge $12 per seat anyway. I think they get perverse joy out of nickel and diming people to death. When not-uncomfortable seats are a premium feature, there's nothing they won't charge for.

American travelers tend to purchase tickets based solely on price. If your consumers are very price conscious, you move as much as you can out of the base price. Don't blame airlines in the US, blame airline customers. Personally, I like the nickel-and-dime scheme, as you call it. I rarely take cross country flights. My typical travel is 3-4 hours of flying at the most. I absolutely prefer a cheaper base ticket price…

They haven't even bothered to try. 3" more legroom for $40? No. Human-sized seat? I'd pay double the price. But I'm not going to pay 5x as much.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#37

Post by rconti »

ghaff wrote: post #19
pavel_lishin wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? I use Google Play for music because it's pretty okay at letting me cache local music on my phone, but I have no idea how well Rdio, Spotify, or Pandora do that. I don't think there's a way to do it on your computer at all, so if you only have a work phone that you don't keep music on, streaming music might be your only option if…

>Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? Um, yes? It doesn't really seem like a huge deal. On the other hand, I have a fairly large music library on my phone and carry a tablet for movies and other things.

It's not a huge deal. But when I'm packing at the last minute, the last thing I have time to do is sort through my music library to load more stuff onto my phone.

Frankly, I kind of stopped maintaining my MP3 collection the better part of a decade ago. I have lots of stored music, sure, but it's non-trivial to maintain a music library on top of everything else in life. I use Spotify because it's convenient. But yes, they have offline mode if I remember to pre-download everything.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#38

Post by soylentcola »

chiph wrote: post #21
btrask wrote: post #13

While on a flight recently, I realized... Why doesn't Google sponsor free in-flight WiFi? It would be much easier than Google Fiber or Project Loon, and it would let them deliver more ads to a fairly wealthy group of people.

They did it at least once over the Christmas holidays two years ago. Probably didn't pay off for them in terms of ad revenue by flying web browsers.

Sure, but it's at least good PR. Like some other companies, they do a lot of "nice" things that may not gain them anything immediately but it's good for branding and it's still a "by Google" tag on something people want. It reminds me more of companies that underwrite NPR programs or whatever. They aren't getting paid directly but lots of potential customers hear their name and that they sponsored something you want.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#39

Post by brandon272 »

beachstartup wrote: post #22

does anyone know a highly reliable mobile satellite internet solution? price is less-ish of an object but i've been looking for something to take with me on extended camping trips and remote locations to do work or for emergencies (also thinking of buying property somewhere without good wired internet). haven't found much so far except for extremely expensive (5-figure) expedition type rigs.

I have searched for this before too as I'm not comfortable vacationing in places where I'm completely disconnected for a week at a time. Though the only thing I've been able to find are BGAN terminals. The equipment rental + data is extremely expensive.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#40

Post by colmvp »

Of all the things I want on a plane, WiFi ranks a lot lower than having a consistent power outlet at my seat. There's nothing worse than having Wifi but a laptop that can only last a % of the flight.
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