5 ms·

Phones are not bigger than seatback systems. Do people have the time or remember to load movies ? Make sure their device is charged? Seatback systems may not

by bruceb 9y ago

Phones are not bigger than seatback systems. Do people have the time or remember to load movies ? Make sure their device is charged? Seatback systems may not be great but they might be good enough to last a while longer.

derwiki 9y ago
On United flights, you can use your smartphone/tablet to connect to wifi and stream their movies for free. I guess charging is still an issue.
- lotsofpulp 9y ago
  The newer planes all have charging ports with sufficient power for mobile devices. United's streaming option, especially with the Amazon partnership seems like the way forward.
  - OscarTheGrinch 9y ago
    Lord help the next passenger using that port after Samy Kamkar has his way with it.
    - lotsofpulp 9y ago
      Hah, it's usually a power outlet that I plug my USB adapter into.
madengr 9y ago
In general, yes.
citruspi 9y ago
> Do people have the time or remember to load movies ? I'm not sure how prevalent it is, but I know some carriers like United[1] and Delta[2] (via Gogo) stream media to your personal device over the aircraft's WiFi. > Make sure their device is charged? Many flights now have USB ports and/or power outlets under the seats. [1]: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/entertainment/personal-device-entertainment.aspx https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/ent... [2]: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/onboard-services/how-to-stream.html https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/on...
- jcoffland 9y ago
  Mainly so they can charge you for it. United's app is awful. It barely works on Android.
  - untog 9y ago
    My experience is different - I've always had free access to movies via Wi-Fi and the selection has been better than the in flight system. As long as there is a USB port I'm in favour of it.
  - chipperyman573 9y ago
    United is also free to stream movies (or at least, it was when I flew a few weeks ago). The wifi is decent - I was able to stream 480p video without interruptions, which is way better than I expected.
    - jcoffland 9y ago
      If you set your expectations low enough any experience can be great. Which coincidentally is United's new slogan.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - citruspi 9y ago
    Nope, I've never had to pay on United or Delta. From the United page, > This free service gives you access to a library of movies and TV shows that you can watch on your personal laptop, Apple iOS device or Android device.
- GauntletWizard 9y ago
  I've flown united recently. I'd much rather have seatback. The USB ports are nice; especially since I have a syncstop so don't have to trust them. The video, however, is only available through their United App (Not even the Gogo Video app, available on a few other carriers, but the United one is required to play videos on their flights). Okay, so I went to download it. You can't on the flight - They block internet unless you pay for it ($15 for my two-hour flight! Though I could have gotten a half hour for $10), but I had a layover, so I downloaded it in the terminal. I was taken aback - It wanted access to my contacts, my phone information, my text messages - Well, thankfully Google has profiles on tablets, so I loaded up my burner profile. But actually on the flight, the experience was horrible. The video constantly stopped to buffer. There were no media controls - You pressed play, and you could pause the video by tapping the screen, but you couldn't scrub back or forward or restart the video. The selection was okay - I watched some Lego Freemaker Adventures (I'm a sucker for the lego animations, and Star Wars, how could I resist?) but there were a variety of movies that I'd have watched instead. I gave up, though, after my second layover I went to boot up the episode I'd been halfway through on my previous flight, and it started over. I don't blame it for starting over... but the lack of media controls made that a non-starter. Ultimately, streaming to personal devices (with rental tablets available) is going to be the clear winner; The expense of maintaining those headrest units has got to be significantly more than the little media server on in-flight wifi, and the complaints I have about privacy invasion are yet another sacrifice that airlines are all too willing to make on our behalf. But it's not there yet, and I sorta doubt it will be for a while yet.

by bruceb 9y ago

derwiki 9y ago

On United flights, you can use your smartphone/tablet to connect to wifi and stream their movies for free. I guess charging is still an issue.

lotsofpulp 9y ago
The newer planes all have charging ports with sufficient power for mobile devices. United's streaming option, especially with the Amazon partnership seems like the way forward.
- OscarTheGrinch 9y ago
  Lord help the next passenger using that port after Samy Kamkar has his way with it.
  - lotsofpulp 9y ago
    Hah, it's usually a power outlet that I plug my USB adapter into.

madengr 9y ago

In general, yes.

citruspi 9y ago

> Do people have the time or remember to load movies ? I'm not sure how prevalent it is, but I know some carriers like United[1] and Delta[2] (via Gogo) stream media to your personal device over the aircraft's WiFi. > Make sure their device is charged? Many flights now have USB ports and/or power outlets under the seats. [1]: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/entertainment/personal-device-entertainment.aspx https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/ent... [2]: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/onboard-services/how-to-stream.html https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/on...

jcoffland 9y ago
Mainly so they can charge you for it. United's app is awful. It barely works on Android.
- untog 9y ago
  My experience is different - I've always had free access to movies via Wi-Fi and the selection has been better than the in flight system. As long as there is a USB port I'm in favour of it.
- chipperyman573 9y ago
  United is also free to stream movies (or at least, it was when I flew a few weeks ago). The wifi is decent - I was able to stream 480p video without interruptions, which is way better than I expected.
  - jcoffland 9y ago
    If you set your expectations low enough any experience can be great. Which coincidentally is United's new slogan.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- citruspi 9y ago
  Nope, I've never had to pay on United or Delta. From the United page, > This free service gives you access to a library of movies and TV shows that you can watch on your personal laptop, Apple iOS device or Android device.
GauntletWizard 9y ago
I've flown united recently. I'd much rather have seatback. The USB ports are nice; especially since I have a syncstop so don't have to trust them. The video, however, is only available through their United App (Not even the Gogo Video app, available on a few other carriers, but the United one is required to play videos on their flights). Okay, so I went to download it. You can't on the flight - They block internet unless you pay for it ($15 for my two-hour flight! Though I could have gotten a half hour for $10), but I had a layover, so I downloaded it in the terminal. I was taken aback - It wanted access to my contacts, my phone information, my text messages - Well, thankfully Google has profiles on tablets, so I loaded up my burner profile. But actually on the flight, the experience was horrible. The video constantly stopped to buffer. There were no media controls - You pressed play, and you could pause the video by tapping the screen, but you couldn't scrub back or forward or restart the video. The selection was okay - I watched some Lego Freemaker Adventures (I'm a sucker for the lego animations, and Star Wars, how could I resist?) but there were a variety of movies that I'd have watched instead. I gave up, though, after my second layover I went to boot up the episode I'd been halfway through on my previous flight, and it started over. I don't blame it for starting over... but the lack of media controls made that a non-starter. Ultimately, streaming to personal devices (with rental tablets available) is going to be the clear winner; The expense of maintaining those headrest units has got to be significantly more than the little media server on in-flight wifi, and the complaints I have about privacy invasion are yet another sacrifice that airlines are all too willing to make on our behalf. But it's not there yet, and I sorta doubt it will be for a while yet.