More like transpolar I should think. And probably a 767.

Well, to speak for myself, I am really enjoying listening to XM while flying on United. With the merger between XM & Sirius happening, I just know that any day now, I'll be able to listen to Howard Stern on my morning flights. Ah, the joys of traveling on business (-;

Fly more & get a better seat

The way I look at it, IFE is not a reliable product yet. I don't hold much expectation of it, and I don't put too much value on it, either. As for why they don't tell you ahead of time, in my experience most of the time it's only the cabin crew that knows it is not working and they tend to put a pretty low priority on it.

I actually don't understand IFE anyway. OK, live TV is nice, but in reality I can get just as much on my little MP3 player than what they have on half those IFE systems anyway. Those take up far less weight and room, why don't they just have those in the seat backs? The only thing I find myself using IFE for is the traveling map, which I have to admit I am really, really attached to.