Is a palmtop or iPod or other superphone. Its been years since I've been on a plane with enough room to open my laptop.

There are lots of occasions in our crowded city lives where we give up a little personal liberty so that we can all get along.

On subways, buses, escalators; in lifts; walking on the sidewalk.

I cannot see how being on an 'plane is any different. A little personal freedom needs to go by the board so that we can all have as "pleasant" a flight as possible.

I recall a long flight I took recently. Soon after we had leveled out, my window-seat neighbor (I had the aisle) popped his laptop out and began working. It was a daytime flight, and so I gazed happily out the window for a while at the clouds.

I became aware that my neighbor was uncomfortable about something -- he was making those strange "Hmmff" noises of discontent. I glanced from the window to his face and saw that he was glaring at me.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"These are private business files," he said, "mind your own fucking business and stop trying to read them."

"I was looking out the window, friend," I said as pleasantly as I could. After all, this was my neighbor for the next 9 hours.

"Yeah, right," he snorted, "whatever you say."

I stood to my full 6 feet 6 inches in the aisle. "If there is something about the seating arrangements you'd like to discuss with the flight attendants, I'd be happy to go find one," I said.

"Forget it," he replied.

"I think that's an excellent suggestion," I said, and sat back down. He re-stowed his laptop, and we spent the rest of the flight peacefully.

Now imagine a flight with people doing "internet" type activities on their laptops: looking at porn; surfing viral video sites full of people throwing up and other tasteful activities; having conversations "NO NO I'M ON A PLANE!"

Yes, what a wonderful thing it will be when airlines have wifi installed.

Farhad, you clearly don't fly much...

Farhad--

There's a huge difference between taking time off to go to a spa, or a vacation, for example, and getting on a plane, for work, and knowing that for the next 5 hours you are effectively uninterruptible. The expectation of contact is enough to disrupt the ability to work or relax.

Usually I think you're dead-on....but you're dead-wrong on this issue.

... is if the volume on all WiFi devices is required to be set to "mute" (a plane full of ringing Blackberries and pingy chat noises?) and seatbacks are no longer recline-able in such a fashion that they threaten to crush one's laptop screen.

I can't wait till they can just beam the Internet directly into our BRAINS! Who else is looking forward to being connected ALL THE TIME? Anything to escape real life. I love looking at glowing screens every waking moment.

I couldn't care less the noise and whatnot other people make. The plane itself is insanely loud crowded and unpleasant. I just don't believe the people here who claim their last flight they spent it meditating on one foot. Sorry. And if you really did you probably flew business class or 1st class which means you probably could have sprung for Bose headphones to silence the rabble.

The fact is, business travelers could make some use of this. It would be really good to be able to check one's mail after being out of pocket for several hours. Because most airports don't have free WiFi and it's a real pain to check your stuff before you grab a rental car.

See for all your whining about other people, I would happily see your spandex cinched fat ass in any other seat but next to mine.

BTW most 'free' WiFi AP's are pretty crappy and they conk out from overload pretty easily. Your just as likely to struggle with a connection. And when you get one, does that mean that you and a hundred of your fellow passengers are going to compete for the single uplink pipe? How big is that going to be?

You occasionally make valid points to threads you comment on but I find it hard to not skip over your posts given that you can be such an unmitigated ass. I assume you actually want people to read what you write or you simply want to annoy.

If the latter is the case then please go kick your dog or yell at a clerk or whatever you need to do because posting for this purpose is simply childish. If you do want people to consider your views, stop being such a jerk.

Thank you.

Had I been your seatmate, I would have pulled down the window shade as soon as we took off - makes it harder to read the laptop screen.

Internet access on planes: great idea. Along with power plugs at every seat -- an essential accessory to make it worthwhile.

But cellphone access on planes? Never.

Let me say it again:

NEVER!

"But if you're annoyed at other people's in-flight Internetting, you're too sensitive."

I hope that your first flight with wifi is a long one Mr. Majoo. And that Mr. Nulla Sallus is your seatmate.

I commute on light rail and Metro buses. The selfishness of passengers and the inconsideration for fellow passengers demonstrated by cell phone users is a good example of what we can expect on airplanes. Thank God I'm no longer a road warrior.

...how internet accessibility on planes is worse than American Airlines showing hours of 'Everyone Loves Raymond' on their flights?

My understanding is the old-timey fave site Zombo.com is putting in a new section of entertainment specifically for in-flight use. It's still a little rough, but after an overlong intro, it shows promise.

I'm dreading having people on the phone all flight. "No no, the doctor said it's infected! Yeah, infected! Pus and all that."

Oy.

You're an asshole and I don't care whether you live or die. So there - now grumble and fume and scream to your blog the next time you fly and there's no Tibetan incense to ensure your personal pleasure. Some of us have work to do.