Originally Posted by
celle
.....I was recently asked by a FA to switch off my e-reading device prior to take-off. It is not one that can either transmit or receive. It's just a storage device for books that I have downloaded on my computer and then transferred to the e-reader.
Since my particular e-reader doesn't send or receive anything, it seems to me that switching it on would have no more effect on an aircraft than switching on a torch/flashlight.
Perhaps someone with more technical knowledge than I can either defend or contradict my reasoning?
Without getting into the safety issue of use of electronic devices during takeoff/landing, I'd say the FA was correct. On just about every flight I've been on in the last 10 years the spiel about electronic devices has included "anything with an on/off switch". This would include a flashlight.