Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage • Hacker News Board

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#391

Post by sgerenser » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 1:57 AM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #316

rippercushions wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There definitely was theoretical risk with 2G-era mobile phones, which blasted considerable amounts of radiation. I was in university once doing a signal interference lab: we had set up an circuit and we're trying to induce current in it from another circuit. Suddenly the oscilloscope on the receiving end showed a couple of wild spikes, and I received a text message on my trusty Nokia 1611: apparently 900 MHz was in…

Yeah , my car's radio used to go nutty when my old Cingular flip phone would check in with the network or get a call.

Yep, it was a common sound on PC speakers in the early 2000s: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FYjs7vsaSEw

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#392

Post by cercatrova » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 1:57 AM UTC

imwillofficial wrote: post #312

crystaln wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The term airplane mode will persist as an anachronism forever. Some day we will have to explain to our grandchildren why disabling networks has anything to do with airplanes.

“Grandpa, what’s an airplane?” “Well Nancy, before instant interdimensional travel…”

Imagine physically traveling through a medium. I only transmit my bits instantaneously and get reconstructed on the other side.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#393

Post by yjftsjthsd-h » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:00 AM UTC

8note wrote: post #306

seanp2k2 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US resident here. What is a train? Those things that move cows, oil, and cars across those rusty bits of metal? I don't think those are suitable for human transportation.

Trains are what keep groceries on your shelves. They almost had general strike last week because the drivers only have 5 days a year not working. No weekends, no sick days, etc.

>> I don't think those are suitable for human transportation.

> Trains are what keep groceries on your shelves. They almost had general strike last week because the drivers only have 5 days a year not working. No weekends, no sick days, etc.

Are you trying to disagree? That sounds extremely human-hostile.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#394

Post by cbhl » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:01 AM UTC

Operationally, I can see one reason why airlines would want to ban AirTags in luggage. AirTags default to beeping when they're away from the owner's iPhone. Found this out the hard way when leaving car keys with a valet parking once; came back to the keys in a drawer and beeping loudly; valet reported they had been like that all day. Presumably it's also a pain for baggage handlers and security folks who handle the bags.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#395

Post by hahajk » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:02 AM UTC

spideymans wrote: post #334

smabie wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't an unstable network experience better than no network experience?

A lot of apps have cached experiences that they'll only show you if you have no network connection. If the app detects a very weak LTE connection, it'll try to load data over the network. That means that on a weak connection, I often end up being served nothing , rather than the data that's already cached on device. As a tangent, I feel that a lot of these problems are fundamentally because engineers don't understand…

...or you live in a dense suburb where they never bothered to put up towers, or a rural area where towers are more scarce, or any where that you have to go in a building without wifi..

I don't honestly believe many developers don't experience this a lot. It's probably just such a transitory experience that it's not worth the rearchitecting required to really solve it.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#396

Post by ceejayoz » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:03 AM UTC

sgerenser wrote: post #391

ceejayoz wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah , my car's radio used to go nutty when my old Cingular flip phone would check in with the network or get a call.

Yep, it was a common sound on PC speakers in the early 2000s: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FYjs7vsaSEw

Oh wow, that brings me back a ways...

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#397

Post by yjftsjthsd-h » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:03 AM UTC

seanp2k2 wrote: post #183

sigwinch28 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Note that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. This doesn’t track. What about trains?

US resident here. What is a train? Those things that move cows, oil, and cars across those rusty bits of metal? I don't think those are suitable for human transportation.

Dude, faux ignorance is rude and anti-conducive to useful conversation; please don't. (Unless, of course, you're sincerely unaware of trains being a widely used mode of transportation even in the States, in which case you're not rude but you should go ask Google to inform yourself.)

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#398

Post by brewdad » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:03 AM UTC

hocuspocus wrote: post #250

nostrademons wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're supposed to put your phone on airplane mode in a train or subway too, but most people don't: https://pocketnow.com/airplane-mode/ The problem is significantly lessened for trains vs. planes though because you're traveling an order of magnitude slower and hence you switch cells an order of magnitude less frequently. Also many commuter rails run alongside major highways or boulevards, where the cell systems are…

> You're supposed to put your phone on airplane mode in a train or subway too, That's a pretty insane claim in most of the world. Lots of people expect and enjoy full coverage on train or subway rides. I work at a carrier and the signal strength and cell capacity on trains are part of the top metrics we use to benchmark the quality of our network and the customer experience.

> You're supposed to put your phone on airplane mode in a train or subway too,

Why would you be expected to do this when we don't require drivers to put their phones in airplane mode? I get that US trains are slow compared to other parts of the world, but does the Autobahn require airplane mode? Doubtful since my German car happily connects to my phone in multiple ways.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#399

Post by ceejayoz » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:05 AM UTC

tartoran wrote: post #247

samueldamon wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

luggage this summer in europe has been a mess. air france lost my bag in paris on june 12 and has neglected to compensate me or return it. no way to get a hold of anyone who can do anything either-- left me wishing i had put an airtag in there myself.

You’d think they’re stuck in a luggage area and airtags would help you hasten them getting to you? Not sure how it’d solve a logistics problem that is not yours but the airline’s. Thinking further I think the airlines should stick their own air tags on luggage while in transit and get it back when customer picks up their luggage (could be a deposit based system). This would help them automatically track all luggage.

> You’d think they’re stuck in a luggage area and airtags would help you hasten them getting to you?

Absolutely! Look at the photos in https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-61848486 and imagine trying to find your bag without a tracker in that mess.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#400

Post by samdcbu » Sat, Oct 08, 2022, 2:06 AM UTC

NavinF wrote: post #261

hacym wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that’s true, or at least how you worded it is bad. Events of thousands of people don’t make you turn off your cell phone, so it’s not because of traffic to a tower. Instead, it’s interference caused by altitude and the pinging of towers. It’s actually an FCC regulation that requires it, so it’s not a courtesy as you say.

> It’s actually an FCC regulation that requires it I don't believe you. Regardless, I have never used airplane mode on an airplane and I never will.

In 2013 the FCC started a regulatory preceding to evaluate allowing the use of mobile phones on airplanes, because currently there is an FCC regulation prohibiting cellular mobile phone use while a plane is in the air. in 2013 the FCC also said there were no technical reasons to prohibit their use in flight. But the preceding was ended in 2020 with no rule-making because of opposition from pilots and flight attendants.