Most airlines don't allow you to use wireless devices on airplanes. In Japan however, gamers have been able to multiplay to their heart's content while in flight. That's changing now though. Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport has decided to ban wireless gaming from all flights. The reason for the move is because apparently wireless devices can interfere with the airplane's instruments. Maybe this move was done because a small Japanese child controlled a plane with his stylus. That or it's just precautionary (but I do like the touch screen pilot idea).
[Via Wired]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-29-2007 @ 12:24AM
Colin said...
I have yet to actually see a study showing that a wireless device (cell etc) can affect an airplane....
The airline just wants you to pay/play their seatback entertainment.
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3-29-2007 @ 11:59AM
MercuryPDX said...
Not true.... an article on "How Stuff Works" explains the problem:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question230.htm
That being said, a friend and I played Hot Shots Golf during a three hour flight without incident. The PSP was new at the time, and I don't think the flight attendants had any idea about it being wireless. That may have changed now.
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3-29-2007 @ 7:54PM
Kichigai Mentat said...
Having recently flown on Northwest Airlines and AirTran, and both of them require you to turn off anything that sends or receives radio signals. I find the receives part highly odd, since a receiver shouldn't put off signals. Anyway, there have been thousands of accounts of people forgetting to turn off their cell phones, WiFi cards, wireless mice, BlueTooth, etc. Besides, with the FCC's talks about a year or two ago on the topic of lifting the cell phone ban, I doubt WiFi would do anything, since the signals tend to be less powerful. Then there's the MythBusters tests where they tested several types of phones (analog, CDMA, PCS, GSM, etc.) and couldn't make a plane's instruments twitch. Granted, they were on the ground, but still.
Besides, aren't airplanes supposed to have shielded hardware? Don't some intercontinental airlines provide in-flight WiFi (United, I think?) I think this is just a bunch of hooey. Until someone can prove that WiFi signals interfere with airplane equipment, or until something happens, I think these bans should be lifted. What's next? Requiring me to wrap my laptop in tin foil because it puts off a low EMF?
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3-30-2007 @ 5:10AM
theboi said...
The myth busters have tried this out they found that they couldn't get any readable problem but it probably just good to play it safe because i wouldn't an airplane to crash just because some one wanted to play bomber man with there friends
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3-30-2007 @ 2:19PM
Carl Hender said...
I also saw that episode. Has anyone been asked to turn off their PSP? Would showing you have turned off the wifi switch be sufficiant to keep the attendents at bay?
I ask because I have long haul coming up and want to take my PSP on board.
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