Letters to the Editor
collier
Published Letters: 12 Editor's Choice: 2
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Yes, please!
[Read the article: Airlines adopt WiFi. This is a good thing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As RJBowman said, a power port at every seat (in the armrest, ideally) would make this a HUGE boon. With a few simple rules for usage, I can't see how this would be any more disturbing to non-internetting passengers than, say, having your neighbors watching - oh god, puke - Everybody Loves Raymond on their seatback screen and guffawing at the inanity therein. I would *love* to be able to kill a couple of hours on JayIsGames or Hulu (which, as Farhad mentioned in a prior post, is excellent) instead of trying to read a book in an uncomfortable position and horrible lighting after my laptop battery runs out and I can't watch a non-stupid movie of my choice.
I wouldn't dream of using a cell phone or VOIP on a plane, and I hope like hell that's never an option. Likewise, internet usage should require either muted sound or headphones - which flights showing movies already stock. If the sound of key-clicking or an occasional laugh - both of which are already unavoidable on planes - are that bothersome, I strongly recommend the squishy foam earplugs from the drugstore and half an Ambien. Works like a charm.
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Yes, please!
[Read the article: Airlines adopt WiFi. This is a good thing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As RJBowman said, a power port at every seat (in the armrest, ideally) would make this a HUGE boon. With a few simple rules for usage, I can't see how this would be any more disturbing to non-internetting passengers than, say, having your neighbors watching - oh god, puke - Everybody Loves Raymond on their seatback screen and guffawing at the inanity therein. I would *love* to be able to kill a couple of hours on JayIsGames or Hulu (which, as Farhad mentioned in a prior post, is excellent) instead of trying to read a book in an uncomfortable position and horrible lighting after my laptop battery runs out and I can't watch a non-stupid movie of my choice.
I wouldn't dream of using a cell phone or VOIP on a plane, and I hope like hell that's never an option. Likewise, internet usage should require either muted sound or headphones - which flights showing movies already stock. If the sound of key-clicking or an occasional laugh - both of which are already unavoidable on planes - are that bothersome, I strongly recommend the squishy foam earplugs from the drugstore and half an Ambien. Works like a charm.
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Nooooooo.
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh god, please please god no cell phones during flight. Just imagine the carnage.
I would, however, very much like to see a power outlet at every seat (inside front of the left arm rest, ideally) and -- oh, it makes me swoon just to think of it -- wifi. And bandwidth galore, please. I might need to download a movie from iTunes so I don't have to watch your stupid [badly cut] version of the latest Jim Carrey schmaltz-fest. Just be sure to block Vonage and the like.
Please, airlines - your food is gross and your "entertainment" options are akin to...well, I'd almost rather listen to the colic-ridden infant two rows back who's shrieking like somebody set his damn diaper on fire. Anyway, you fail. I'll bring my own food and something to amuse myself. Just give me a decent travel environment at a reasonable price, and leave off trying to create some kind of hotel-like experience in coach. The end result is invariably like being trapped in an extra-shabby Howard Johnson's next to a family with toddlers on a Twinkie-induced freakout.
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No thanks, unless...
[Read the article: Your presidential candidate: Hot or not?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...unless the votes of fair-minded, reasonable citizens are going to carry more weight than those of the fanatics on both sides of the political fe...wait, that would be unconstitutional.
I can easily see a large contingent of voters behaving exactly as Asher and Treerol described. And if we're expected to score the candidates as you outlined, Farhad, then A) that sounds rather more like IRV and B) I vaguely recall a couple of instances of people having trouble with voting instructions. Comparatively simple voting instructions.
Another issue: How would candidates be presented to the voter if this system were used in an election? Regardless of layout on a page or screen, there will be an Order. And voting of this type -- whether in quick succession like HotOrNot, or with a bunch of info available for each, like Amazon ratings -- the score you give one candidate will likely be tainted by the score you gave the candidate immediately prior. "I just gave McCain a 4, and now here's Romney. I would've given him a 4, but I like him less than McCain, so I guess he should be a 3. Wait, here's Huckabee. Erase, erase, erase, *phooo*." At which point you say screw it, let's scrap candidate-voting entirely and do a LiveJournal-style "Which [historical figure, LotR character, Fraggle] Are You?" quiz, leaving it to the programmers to match up our positions on issues with the available My Little Ponies. Err, candidates.
I'd really like to see IRV used on a larger scale, perhaps in state-wide elections. Not that it's proof against insincere voting and shady strategizing, but likely better than what we've got now, and much more straightforward and comprehensible than many of the other options.