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Big screens are an OK workaround for no passenger windows, but they still have to contend with severe structural pressurization challenges, strict emergency eva
by xnx 3mo ago
Big screens are an OK workaround for no passenger windows, but they still have to contend with severe structural pressurization challenges, strict emergency evacuation rules, and incompatibility with current airport gates.
- EGreg 3mo agoNo passenger windows is the correct way to go. The screens can actually show anything, not just replace a window.
- CalRobert 3mo agoHell why even travel when you can just see Venice on a screen.
- EGreg 3mo agoThis question is deeper than you think. Until the 20th century, most people didn't travel even a fraction of that many miles per year. The most prolific travelers, such as Mozart, did not travel nearly as much as a person who's commuting to work every day by car or train -- just to sit in a chair in the office instead of at home. When it comes to transportation, we burn fossil fuels and pollute the planet with CO2 for mostly needless reasons. Our generation thinks we're so much "smarter", but we're living on an ecological credit card that our children will have to pay, not to mention many of the planet's ecosystems, just so we can all have "memories of actually being in Venice" rather than simply a picture of us in Venice, which in the end is the artifact we have. (If we are that insistent on "being everywhere" and checking off a bucket list, perhaps "Total Recall" was onto something LMAO.)
- CalRobert 3mo agoYou’re not wrong. Having traveled a fair bit it does eventually turn in to basically a big theme park experience. I still like looking out the window though
- rezokun 3mo agoInfinite ads in econom
- BobbyTables2 3mo agoTrue - unlike a car, it’s not like one could open a window in a plane. Just hope they don’t make an “ad-free” window a premium upgrade…
- Bolwin 3mo agoJeez way to ruin of the few remaining joys of flying. Lock everyone in a tin can. You will experience reality through screens only and you will enjoy it
- EGreg 3mo agoYes, you will! :-)
- evolve2k 3mo agoBe nice to not have to deal with that one guy who didn’t close their window when it’s dark cabin time on long multi-Timezone flights; leaving the sun to blare in when you’re really trying to get some shut eye.
- Carrok 3mo agoJust bring a sleep mask.
- bathtub365 3mo agoI only travel in classes where I know they will provide one.
- notahacker 3mo agoIt would definitely be cheaper to shell out $5 for your own :D
- briandw 3mo agoIn a conventional aircraft you sit on the roll axis. In a blended wing body design you can have off-axis motion that can increase motion sickness. Rather than rolling with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, you move up and down when the aircraft banks. Not necessarily a deal breaker, but an additional difference to deal with.
- deadbabe 3mo agoJust gimbal the seats.
- NegativeLatency 3mo agoDoesn’t fix translation?
- cr125rider 3mo agoSimply noclip the passengers!
- mmh0000 3mo agoThat only works if the engines move the planet around the airplane.
- ffsm8 3mo agoGreat, so there is the solution!
- samplifier 3mo agoMight as well iddqd and idkfa at that point. Or grantme all. Pick your flavor.
- fugaziboutit 3mo agoNew commercial seating design: Oops, All Pinch Points!
- azza2110 3mo agoNo way. Looking out the window is one of the joys of flying. Picking out my house, seeing tiny cars on a remote highway, etc. Even 100+ MP cameras and high resolution screens won't come close to that level of detail.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- carodgers 3mo agoAlso the screen sizes they are showing have got to be exceedingly heavy.
- hankbond 3mo agoI know every gram is accounted for in aerospace but OLEDs weighs so little, especially if you can just heatsink into existing metal structures nearby.
- 3D30497420 3mo agoI'd wager a bunch of OLEDs will be lighter than built-in windows with all the structural reinforcing necessary to make them safe.
- colordrops 3mo agoI'm fine with not looking out of the window if the seat is comfortable and I can get to the bathroom more easily. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. Window enjoyers such as yourself will still be able to get the window seats.
- articulatepang 3mo agoBut are you willing to pay 10-20% more for that joy? I personally would rather pay less money to fly, not get to see out the window, and spend those dollars on, say, a fancier meal at the destination. Or to have an extra day at the destination if my trip length is money-bound rather than time-bound. Or put those dollars towards an extra hour of childcare. Or … I have so many uses for dollars that give me more utility than “see out the window while flying”. Where that number comes from: they claim 50% reduction in fuel consumption, which sounds doubtful to me, and fuel is about a third of flight costs, and I’m making some generous assumptions around perfect competition.
- TEHERET 3mo agothe biggest challenge would likely be training pilots to a new cockpit and flight profile
- zdc1 3mo agoI wonder if it makes more sense to just get the latest batch of people doing the military -> civilian transition and starting them off on these
- thadk 3mo agoWould dropping airplane windows lower radiation exposure somewhat, especially on those polar routes?
- jandrewrogers 3mo agoNo, virtually all the radiation with the exception of UV is passing straight through the airframe. The protection an aircraft body offers is negligible.
- JSR_FDED 3mo agoI don’t know how many people are claustrophobic, but for me this would be a non-starter. Edit: apparently 12.5% of the population has claustrophobia. If 5% of flyers choose a different airline due to simulated windows that would wipe out any cost benefit from fuel savings.
- unsnap_biceps 3mo agoI don't think it is that simple. If a route has mixed offerings and the cheaper option is the windowless plane, it's likely to be full and they'll save on fuel costs for the full flight and can charge extra for a normal flight off hours and come out way ahead.
- rendaw 3mo agoWhat do economy seats look like? I can't imagine they all have wrap-around video...
- cheema33 3mo agoI imagine they would look similar to what they look now. You will have a 7" monitor in front. You can use it watch movies or look outside.
- numpad0 3mo agoIIRC, minimum one window for each rows is a safety requirement, so that firefighters can see inside a burning plane or something. I think that is believed to be how that fence appeared.
- VectorLock 3mo agoI give absolutely less than zero f's about no windows for 2" more legroom.
- enahs-sf 3mo agoThe gates thing was my first thought when I saw the design although a staircase on the tarmac could be a cheap workaround.