HNL

1. The default answer for AA is the on/off switch. If it has on it's supposed to be off.

2. I don't think there are more rule breakers in F than Y, but I'm a rule breaker so I don't pay much attention.

MM983

^ I pretty much agree with this. The whole electronic thing is a silly/stupid rule and I would break the rule whenever I could. I shut off my phone for Take Off/Approach/Landing, but if I had a Kindle.. you could darn well be sure that I'm keeping it on.

Plato90s

Once you turn the cell phone part of the Kindle off, it poses no risk.

I'm batting about 75% as far as whether the FA forces me to turn off the Kindle. Since I usually use it with the Amazon cover, a lot of FA's don't even notice it as electronic given it doesn't give off the characteristic glare of an active LCD.

Eye of Storm

Once set in a particular pattern, the e-ink used by the Kindle takes zero power to maintain, unlike a typical LCD screen. The Kindle literature says this quite clearly: "electronic paper does not need power to hold the ink in place". Therefore, as long as the wireless (radio) feature of the Kindle is turned off, which is achieved via a software setting and not via a physical switch, the Kindle poses absolutely no "electronic" hazard to the airplane or its communications systems. It literally makes no difference whether or not the physical on/off switch on the top of the device is "on" or "off" -- either way, the Kindle e-ink screen is on. The only thing that differs is whether an actual book page or one of the several generic Kindle standby screens is displayed.

AA doesn't make us literally pull the batteries out of our cell phones and other electronic devices; they just require that we turn the phones off (i.e., no wireless connection). Similarly, there is no reason for AA to insist that we display a Kindle standby page rather than an actual Kindle book page, even during takeoff and landing (by analogy, we're not required to close our paper books and display the covers at those times). All we should do is turn the Kindle wireless off. Just like for a cell phone, there's really no way for them to know whether or not we truly do so (short of grabbing the device out of our hand and examining it), but we should still turn off the wireless... and there's no good reason for them to force us to stop reading on the Kindle.

envgeo

Perhaps they would like you to turn off the electronic device to make sure you can quickly and easily pay attention to crew member instructions in case of an emergency event (I presume their are more such events during takeoff and landing than during cruise).

Davidwnc

In that respect what's the difference between reading a Kindle and a book. If what you say above is the reason for turning it off, then they should ask people to put away their books/newspapers/magazines....but they don't.

newbiztraveler

As two previous posters have mentioned, the Kindle does not require any power to keep an image on its screen. Therefore, it should not be included.

JDiver

Perhaps with yours. My Kindle certainly has a switch (held 5 - 10 seconds) and turns on and off.

AAFA

This kind of post is very amusing to me. Why is it that most passengers think flight attendants are technologically challenged? I am one of the flight attendants who checks that they are turned off when the person still has their device out and obviously on way after the electronic device announcement was made. I don't get it when people tell me they are off yet continue to text on their phones, type on their laptop, read their kindles, dial up the next song on their ipod....etc. Maybe you can help me understand what that's all about.

Do you think flight attendants are stupid or that we live in the airplane and have no knowledge of any new electronic breakthroughs? Kind of like you're visiting the past in your time machine and the flight attendants from the past just think you're all eccentric because you're talking into objects, typing on weird typewriters, and have items that light up.

It's really not so hard. All electronic devices off means, um, all electronic devices off. I kind of get a kick out of doing my final checks before takeoff and then quietly skulking back up the aisle a few minutes later to catch all the people who thought I was gone who have turned their electronics back on, put their trays back down, and once again reclined their seats. There's always a few. The other passengers enjoy it too.

Davidwnc

Including things like digital watches...

Dodge DeBoulet

Then, as a technologically adept FA, you surely realize that on the average flight there are likely 30-50 laptops in "suspend" mode in the overheads and under seats, each using a trickle of electricity to maintain memory state?

That there are probably 80 or more cell phones in essentially the same state? Most modern cell and smart phones don't truly "shut off" since their operating systems have gotten so large and complex that there would be a serious acceptance factor for said new technology if the only option was to completely power down at takeoff and sit through the 2-3 minute boot up time after landing.

That even iPods operate in this fashion?

Never mind wristwatches (some of which actually qualify as full-blown computers, running the Linux operating system!), pacemakers, hearing aids, electronic neural stimulators for epilepsy, etc. aren't even in standby mode after the door is closed?

Seriously, 99.99% of the time, a Kindle turned ON produces no more electronic interference than a Kindle turned OFF, and far less than the GPS-enabled digital watch the athletic gentleman sitting in 1D is wearing.

So if the reason you're giving to turn eBook readers off is the same one you're NOT using to force people to completely power down all of the hardware listed above, you may want to rethink your position.

If it's the whole "we need your immediate attention in case of an emergency" spiel, you better be making sure that every passenger with a dead-tree book, newspaper or magazine puts THAT away until they've reached 10,000 feet, too.

Of course, venting my little diatribe while sitting at the gate will most likely get me ejected from the plane, so I'll do just what most other Kindle-readers do and close the cover when I see or hear you coming down the aisle.

Then open it again, and continue to enjoy reading my f%$#ing BOOK.

Rampo

Actually, judging from what I've read on the Kindle forums, many Kindle owners don't know how to completely shut off their Kindles either. Hell, the Zune has a goofy way of turning completely off and sometimes I forget how to do it and have to google it. These days many devices, including the Kindle, come with a sleep mode, which I suspect is what many passengers wind up using rather than completely shutting the power off.

Even the most technologically savvy FAs are looking to see if people are actively using a device, not checking every device to make sure that its powered off vs in sleep mode. And when it's in a cover, a Kindle - especially the Kindle 1 - looks very much like a book.

Dodge DeBoulet

For those of you that get annoyed when an FA requests you turn your Kindle off, here's an idea that will, I suspect, get them to leave you alone . . . Warning: nerdy stuff below. It takes a little dedication to the Kindle cause to work through it.

On your personal computer, grab a screen capture (print screen) from a page of the on-line religious reference book of your choice. Bible, Koran, Torah, Necronomicon, Dianetics, doesn't matter. It needs to be an image, not a text file. Size it to 600x800 pixels to fit the kindle screen, then follow the instructions here to turn it into a screensaver for your Kindle.

Now, when a FA gives you a hard time about reading your kindle during take-off, simply press Alt-AA, look at him/her with quiet panic, state that you are a very nervous flyer and that the word of your deity calms you . . . and that you hope that the FA would not mind if you continued reading. If he/she still insists, increase your breathing rate, twitch, and otherwise develop more extreme signs of discomfort. Reduce your level of distress only when you glance down at the image on your Kindle display. Chances are, you'll be left alone at that point. You might even get a comforting pat on the arm

When he/she leaves, press Alt-AA again and pick up where you left off

nmenaker

it does require power to move from page to page though, so, I guess reading that ONE page would be fine. Otherwise, it uses power and is "on"

jrockway

Uh, what? My phone takes a while to startup, but I still completely power it down for takeoff / landing. (I have no interest in using it in the air, so it usually stays off for the entire flight to save battery power.)

It is faster to just turn the radio off, sure, but that is not what the FAA regulations are asking you to do. If you want to ignore the rules, that's fine, but all phones allow you to follow the rules if you want to. Worse case, remove the battery. The phone will be completely powered off.

Anyway, the tone of your post indicates that you don't like the rules. You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but saying that it's technically impossible to follow the rules is just plain wrong. Everyone can follow the rules if they want to. You just choose not to.