The government might be causing more unnecessary interference on planes by asking people to shut their devices down for take-off and landing and then giving them permission to restart all at the same time. According to electrical engineers, when the electronic device starts, electric current passes through every part of the gadget, including GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular radio and microprocessor.
It’s the equivalent of waking someone up with a dozen people yelling into bullhorns.
As more and more people transition from paper products to digital ones, maybe it’s time to change these rules.
Michael Altschul, senior vice president and legal counsel for CTIA, the wireless industry association, said a study that it conducted more than a decade ago found no interference from mobile devices.
“The fact is, the radio frequencies that are assigned for aviation use are separate from commercial use,” Mr. Altschul said. “Plus, the wiring and instruments for aircraft are shielded to protect them from interference from commercial wireless devices.”
Mr. Dorr reluctantly agreed. “There have never been any reported accidents from these kinds of devices on planes,” he said.
- Nick Bilton, Fliers Still Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
Government stupidity and industry hypercautious behavior. It’s the same reason that people are shown how to put on seat belts in 2011, too.
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obliterated1 reblogged this from stoweboyd
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steph said:
Hah, I’m so used to the seatbelts thing that I hadn’t noticed it! Indeed, I think we’d know by now. #brainwashed
Also remember seeing something about the origin for names on tickets and non-transferability — similar stupidness.
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