Less Power To The People!
So today I was on a flight from IAD-LAX on United. I have my phone loaded up with a few radio programs I planned to listen to on the way, so I got on board and went looking for a power outlet so I'd have some battery left when I got to LA. Nope, no power outlets on this plane, a pretty minimally equipped (except for seats, too many of those in coach, and not enough padding). But they have this new thing - free movies, bring your own screen and connect to their entertainment system via WiFi.
In a period where more aircraft are being equipped with power at the seats, I guess United ditched it figuring that they'd have a plane load of people plugging in and didn't want to provide that many watt-hours.
It was kind of annoying, and kind of funny in a way - giving us something that requires power to use, and then not providing the power. I made it across the country playing my recorded shows and still had enough battery to finish out the day, but it's not how I planned to do it.
Not much interesting to watch, but I did try it out. Phone was too small to watch a movie on (I never do that even on the ground). My laptop computer was OK. I watched one film festival short, and then when I wanted to watch Spinal Tap, it told me that my computer didn't have the latest DRM software and invited me to download it. After just having seen an episode of CSI Cyber about a plane that was hijacked through the on-board WiFi (pretty unlikely in real life), I wasn't about to download software from an airplane to my working computer.
So, is this the start of a trend? Are the airlines that started (and a few finished) a program to put power at all the seats going to remove the outlets on the next refurbishment?