New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy • Hacker News Board

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#441

Post by aphistic » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

xeromal wrote: post #430

standardUser wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard not to be cynical, especially when some airlines have solved this problem the old fashioned way - by providing a reasonable amount of space in the first place. I'd rather airlines find a way to match the dimensions of Jet Blue than come up with "innovations" that make their unrealistic seat dimensions slightly less miserable.

The issue is how capitalism works. No one wants to pay a 1000$ for a domestic flight, but that's the only way you're getting personal space. Flights in the past were expensive, but comfortable. It's not a right to have space and affordability.

I'd pay $1000 for a domestic flight with leg room and a slightly wider seat. I flew first class out to San Diego recently and I would have done it on the way home as well but they wanted $2500 more for the same flight the other direction. That's just ridiculous. Flights in the past were never that expensive for the same comfort.

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#442

Post by CDSlice » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

puranjay wrote: post #378

chki wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, everybody who has Alexa already has a phone constantly with them everywhere. So it's just one extra microphone, not something completely different.

That's the thing - smartphones are surveillance devices as well, but their utility makes them a necessity. It's possible to argue that you'd submit to the surveillance if you're getting all that you get from a smartphone. But a smart speaker just plays some music and tells you the weather. It's not nearly enough utility to be worth the privacy risks.

To you maybe, but not for everyone. I get lots of utility out of my Echo (alarms, music, checking the weather, controlling lights, etc.) that I'm fine with some random Amazon contractor listening to my commands to Alexa.

And if you are worried about the companies lying about not recording 24/7 why do you trust them to disable the recording done by assistants on your phone?

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#443

Post by selectodude » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:37 PM UTC

aphistic wrote: post #441

xeromal wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is how capitalism works. No one wants to pay a 1000$ for a domestic flight, but that's the only way you're getting personal space. Flights in the past were expensive, but comfortable. It's not a right to have space and affordability.

I'd pay $1000 for a domestic flight with leg room and a slightly wider seat. I flew first class out to San Diego recently and I would have done it on the way home as well but they wanted $2500 more for the same flight the other direction. That's just ridiculous. Flights in the past were never that expensive for the same comfort.

Full fare Y tickets from LAX-JFK are $2819 return. That’s how much the tickets were pre-deregulation.

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#444

Post by tootie » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:42 PM UTC

hvoiiita wrote: post #330

tootie wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the author is misunderstanding a bit. This isn't facial recognition, it's facial detection. Distinguishing a sleeping face and an awake face doesn't require the face to be identified. Also, I'd be shocked if there aren't already cameras covering every square inch of modern airplane cabins. Also also, you can't get on a plane without showing ID and boarding pass with a seat number, so it's not like they…

I was flying through Schiphol airport and they had facial recognition entering the gate. It scanned my face and then brought up my passport. Facial recognition is already here and in some capacity being used for flight travel.

For customs or the airline?

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#445

Post by TurkishPoptart » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

mstade wrote: post #255

xvector wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually a serious problem to me. Regardless of how interesting I find them, meetings at work trigger something deep inside me that cause me to sleep. It’s like a biological switch has been flipped. Cavemen talking around a fire into the night, getting ready for the long rest for the day ahead... Sometimes I fall into a fugue in which I am semi-aware and a dream fills in part of the speech of meetings. I hear…

I'm not a doctor, so please take this with a truck load of salt, but you may want to get tested for sleep apnea. You can apparently go a full night of sleep, waking up seemingly well rested, and then your body just shuts down to sleep all of a sudden because it turns out you barely slept at all. Snoring is a symptom apparently, but even if you don't snore it might be worth getting tested.

I doubt it. I nod off in meetings all the time. It's that 10 o clock marker after I've had some carbs at ~9am. I want to snooze then naturally.

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#446

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:49 PM UTC

logfromblammo wrote: post #390

xvector wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually a serious problem to me. Regardless of how interesting I find them, meetings at work trigger something deep inside me that cause me to sleep. It’s like a biological switch has been flipped. Cavemen talking around a fire into the night, getting ready for the long rest for the day ahead... Sometimes I fall into a fugue in which I am semi-aware and a dream fills in part of the speech of meetings. I hear…

I call it the "Powerpoint nap". It's not just the interestingness, but the lack of engagement. When that meeting starts, your brain is likely shutting off the flow of orexin. That orexin may have been the only thing keeping you awake. You get bored or disengaged; you conk out. I'd guess, just from hearing that short description, that you don't get much natural sunlight in your workplace, the meetings are happening ju…

[deleted]

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#447

Post by tyingq » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

kortilla wrote: post #436

tyingq wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've not been able to exit from the window seat without both of my seatmates getting up for some time. I don't see this setup as any worse when seat pitch is tight.

Congrats, you’re either not flying economy or you’re flying with small neighbors and you are small too. In economy, a 6ft person will have their knees touching the seat in front of them. Getting out without them standing up will require straddling them like a mile-high stripper. Additionally, if you’re big (6ft 240lbs), getting between the economy seats when they’re empty is inconvenient and it requires weird bending…

I imagine you've read something in my comment that isn't there. I didn't characterize economy as a good experience. I just said this seems no worse for exiting.

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#448

Post by TurkishPoptart » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

logfromblammo wrote: post #390

xvector wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually a serious problem to me. Regardless of how interesting I find them, meetings at work trigger something deep inside me that cause me to sleep. It’s like a biological switch has been flipped. Cavemen talking around a fire into the night, getting ready for the long rest for the day ahead... Sometimes I fall into a fugue in which I am semi-aware and a dream fills in part of the speech of meetings. I hear…

I call it the "Powerpoint nap". It's not just the interestingness, but the lack of engagement. When that meeting starts, your brain is likely shutting off the flow of orexin. That orexin may have been the only thing keeping you awake. You get bored or disengaged; you conk out. I'd guess, just from hearing that short description, that you don't get much natural sunlight in your workplace, the meetings are happening ju…

Seems a bit of a stretch to assume the guy has _sleep apnea_ if he nods off during a likely pointless meeting. If he's passing out at his desk, then perhaps.

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#449

Post by xeromal » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

aphistic wrote: post #441

xeromal wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is how capitalism works. No one wants to pay a 1000$ for a domestic flight, but that's the only way you're getting personal space. Flights in the past were expensive, but comfortable. It's not a right to have space and affordability.

I'd pay $1000 for a domestic flight with leg room and a slightly wider seat. I flew first class out to San Diego recently and I would have done it on the way home as well but they wanted $2500 more for the same flight the other direction. That's just ridiculous. Flights in the past were never that expensive for the same comfort.

They were much higher man. Pick a year/decade and I'll show you how much higher they were. Flying was for the wealthy in the 60s - 70s. Don't forget inflation. After deregulation, prices dropped by 50% or so.

Most airlines do have a Comfort+ that is pretty affordable and allows you more room and a better seat.

Re: New airplane seat design to make it easier to sleep in economy

#450

Post by zippergz » Tue, Dec 10, 2019, 7:12 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #407

rpiguy wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's say this adds 10 pounds to each seat times 150-400 seats. No way the airlines would go for it they are trying to cut weight from the planes to scrape every ounce of fuel economy out of the airframe. It is a non-starter. Airlines also have zero incentive to increase passenger comfort because most airlines operate near capacity (all flights full/overbooked) on most routes because of deregulation. You have no alte…

> Airlines also have zero incentive to increase passenger comfort Airlines seem in a constant fight for passenger comfort to me! Some have as many as five cabin tiers, attempting to make as many people as comfortable as their budgets will allow. There's competition to make the most luxurious lounges. Out-fitting of power and WiFi seems to have been effective. Whole new aircraft like the 787 are designed with passenge…

I would characterize this more as a fight for revenue maximization than passenger comfort, at least within the US for domestic flights. I fly premium classes quite a bit, and spend a lot of time in lounges. My experience is that a lot of these products launch with a bang, start out strong, but very quickly the cuts start. The airlines (or lounge operators) seem to constantly be working to see just how little they can get away with providing while still getting people to pay. International is a different game to some degree, but even there it’s not really all that unusual to see cuts to the premium products while still charging the same amount.