iPod Seat-Back Video Coming To Flights

cameronk writes, "Apple announced partnership agreements with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United that will let you display video from your iPod on the screen of the seat in front of you. Plus, the connectors charge iPods throughout the flight. This will be great for inter-continental flights where even my iPod Nano runs out of juice. I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays."

Boeing...

Boeing: The world's largest iPod accessory manufacturer.

747: The world's largest iPod accessory.

Yes, please!

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays."

That's funny as I was wondering the same thing when Apple's press announcement appeared in my inbox. Of course the issue of other movies like those you mentioned should not even be an issue as it is content that the user has loaded on their own iPods (and you should not be looking at your neighbors content anyhow). As to porn and other questionable content, this really comes down to etiquette and if there are those on the flight that will display such content where others may see it (like kids), they are likely pissing people off for other reasons. All told, this is a great idea and I'd rather have to deal with other people's movies than having to listen to them talk on their cell phones (Please! FAA, Nnnoooooooo!) or worse. Flying anywhere is becoming more and more onerous these days and at the very least, having airlines support ways to charge laptops or iPods during long flights would be a huge benefit as Empower outlets are pretty hard to find on many flights in coach and sometimes even in first or business class.

I've had to deal [utah.edu] with [utah.edu] enough [utah.edu] problems [utah.edu] flying [utah.edu] anyhow [utah.edu] again [utah.edu] and again [utah.edu] and again [utah.edu] and anything that will keep people quiet and minding their own business is a good thing.

Re:Yes, please!

Pretty much the same way they keep your from looking at Penthouse centerfolds or playing porn on your mini DVD player. Social pressure plus, I'd assume, a polite (at least initially) request from the crew. In this case, it works. There's nothing new here in this respect.

Re:Yes, please!

Video iPod - $250
Label Maker - $27
Scaring the crap out of unsuspecting passengers with the new "pilot's view display" and footage from the nose of a cruise missle - Priceless.

Privacy Filters?

Just a hunch. [3m.com]

What they aren't telling you..

You have to use a "special" FAA approved cable to connect to the video input of the screen as well as the charging unit. The airline will provide this to you for $5 which includes the rental price of the monitor.

i'm waiting

So how long until we get ipod connectors for samsung's machine gun sentry robots [youtube.com]? They could even use that song "let the bodies hit the floor" in the commercial.

same issue

Don't airlines already have the same issue with laptops? Those have approximately the same angle from screen to the eyes of person next to you, especially in coach. My guess is it won't be an issue. Perhaps if a polite request doesn't make you stop, they can disable your screen from the front?

Re:same issue

Yeah, what's the etiquette for looking at porn on your laptop while flying?

You are supposed to ask the woman next to you if she wants to joint the mile high club. Do that while pointing at your laptop screen. It is sure to impress her.

Re:same issue

You are supposed to ask the woman next to you if she wants to joint the mile high club. Do that while pointing at your laptop screen. It is sure to impress her.

I suspect this depends on how impressive your pointer is...

Snakes on a plane?

Why would this movie, or Alive, or even United 93 or Twin Towers be inappropriate? it's not like I'm going to show it to a hysteria-prone man on the brink of snapping and hijacking the plane. If I have it on my iPod I know what it's about and I maintain full control to turn off the movie at any time.

Gee, it's not like watching it is actually going to make snakes appear in the plane. Plus, I don't think it'd be nearly as bad as depicted in the movie.

Zune Compatibility?

I'm more interested in Zune compatability. Can I use Zune's great wifi capabilities to exchange MP3s with the onboard flight navigation system? They're DRMed to 3 days, but when your life expectancy is 1 hour max, who cares?!

And when we crash, we'll go down grooving.

Re:Zune Compatibility?

Ok, you got modded funny, but why not put a regular USB port on the seat back, and allow people to hook up any USB mass storage device, and play the media from that. Make it a Linux MPlayer thing and it would be able to play just about anything. Why do companies keep on locking themselves into one device when it would be much easier to support a large number of devices. If they're worried about DRM on the files, then work out a deal with apple so that they can decrypt the files on the iPod.

Re:Zune Compatibility?

Or better yet, an NTSC or VGA input so any old device could drive it, including iPods. Imagine that. No codec problems, no DRM issues, etc. Provide 12vDC power the same way they've always done. If they want to rent iPod-specific cable sets for video and charging, that's fine.

... to keep inappropriate

How are they going to? They better not, well the adult stuff I can understand because it is not private viewing, but I certainly do not see a problem with other movies.

Stop doing the thought police's work for them, we do not need protecting from ourselfs... just our government. And even then, it is more that they should feel the need to protect themselves from their citizens (if they are doing wrong).

I've got an idea

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays."

How about by /asking/ people not to? Or a little sign that says, "Please be aware of your neighbors and/or their children, and do not watch video that may disturb them." Sheesh.

Offtopic, but - who's up for a "no kids" airline? I'd definitely pay an extra $10 per flight to ensure there aren't any crying babies onboard.

Re:I've got an idea

On the flipside, that cute lady would probably pay $100 to NOT sit next to you.

Re:I've got an idea

A wit once said there were two classes of travel, 'First Class', and 'With Children'.

Re:I've got an idea

Kinda weird how you first seemed almost humanist, what with your suggestion to communicate and use common sense in social situations. Then you turn a quick 180 and suggest artificial class barriers to society like "with children" vs "you." Sure, some kids are annoying because they don't understand why their ears are hurting. Some people in seat 13B are annoying because they like watching the climax of "Airport 1977" on a bigscreen laptop and can't understand why it might be a bit anxiety-inducing for their neighbors. If you can live with one but not the other, what does that say about you?

Re:I've got an idea

Personally, I'm up for a no fat people airline. And no smelly people. And no people with brown skin. And no Mormons! Or old people, they're too slow.

Inappropriate video not a new problem

You can get on a plane, open up your laptop and play inappropriate video right now. I don't think this has been a huge problem so far, and I don't see how ipod-seat-back-video makes this problem any worse.

Just a thought

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays.

The same way they keep you from running up and down the plane mid-flight shouting "we're all gonna die!".

Besides, it's not even necessarily the passengers who rile up things. A few years ago I was on a plane waiting for take-off where the stewardess figured that the best solution to calm pre-take-off nerves would be to put on the radio through the cabin speakers. Much to her surprise, the song playing at that very moment was "killing me softly", and you can all have a guess which words came out of the speakers first...

Inappropriate video

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays."

I'll wager they'll do it just the same way that they would handle a person that is playing inappropriate video on their 15" laptop sitting on the tray table in front of them. My guess is that would be to ignore it unless a passenger complains, then politely ask the viewer to turn it off.

Personally, were I a flight attendant, I would discreetly ask those around if it offended them. If it didn't, I'd ignore it.

Sick Of Ipod This Ipod That

Anyone else just plain tired of Ipod monopoly showing up everywhere? What about those of us who have Cretative Zen Visions or other Video media players? Are we just screwed?

Stop catering to just one damn format.

Distract you from how much flying sucks

I would just be happy if they made the seats big enough and with enough leg room so that I wouldn't feel like I'm packed in like a sardine. Anything else is just a way to distract us from thinking about how much flying sucks.

Wrong display?

From the Apple Press Release:

....allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on the their seat back displays.

Why would the person behind me want or even care to see videos from my iPod on their display? Wouldn't it be a better idea to display the videos on the display in front of me and not on the display on the back of my seat?

laptop argument

laptop use is slightly different. It's usually low enough and in a position that only someone sitting directly beside you or behind you (cracks in the seat) can see the crap you're watching. The screens on the seatbacks are up higher and at greater visability. I bet there's going to be at least one 733t dork who will feel it necessary to play a 0-day movie to show off his h@xor sk1llz.

Inappropriate MY ASS...

...I mean, COME ON, what's the frigging difference between inappropriate video/images and some guy flipping through his Playboy magazine? Flying in an airplane has always been about unwritten rules of conduct, in addition to the encylopediae of written rules.

Next news headline...

... Microsoft to buy Quantas Airlines - Quantas will be first to have z00n wireless

This is the airlines kicking MPAA to the curb

This is a clever way for the airlines to bypass the MPAA's atrocious licensing fees for movies stored on the aircraft's entertainment system. If the airline doesn't 'own' the copy, they aren't responsible. I predict the MPAA will soon be having shit fits over this system.

ie vs eg

The poster uses "ie" to list inappropriate content for airplanes, but he is mistaken: instead, he wants "eg". "Ie" introduces an exhaustive list, or restates the category completely, whereas "eg" provides examples within the category. So, he gives the category as inappropriate content, and lists three possible types of inappropriate content, so he should use "eg".

The latin phrase for "eg" is "exempli gratia", or, in English, "gratuitous example", which is to say, an example which helps explain the intent of the sentence.

The latin phrase for "ie" is "id est", or, in English, literally "that is", which means you are restating the thing to make the intent clear.

I don't really blame the poster, who might not care about this distinction, a common mistake amongst Americans, but the Slashdot editors sure as hell should care, being that they are paid to provide that service. That's an old complaint, though, and it's fairly clear the editors don't care either.

If you're going to be a Nazi

at least do it right: 1. Learn Latin so you understand the grammatical structure and meaning of the expression "exempli grata". 2. Learn how to spell: "i.e.", "e.g.". Without the abbreviating periods, the sequences of letters "ie", "eg" don't mean anything in English. "Latin" should be capitalized in English.

I'm all in favor of iPods on a plane...

Just as long as it doesn't lead to THIS! [roughlydrafted.com]

iPod takes off

While "zoon" craters. I love it.
-jcr

Standard Formats

It's a nice thing to have, but would be far nicer if these manufacturers played nicely with each other and came up with standard connector and protocols for audio, video, etc. All the ridiculous proprietary formats are getting us nowhere (SOny, I'm looking at you). If you make one of these products, at least donate the patent on the format to the public domain to give some semblance of a willingness to compete.

Finally

pr0n instead of Monster, Inc.

I would expect...

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays.

Probably, the same way they keep "inappropriate content" in other media (say, porn in dead-tree form) from "appearing" in the passenger compartment.

KLM? Air France?

According to this Dutch news site [www.nu.nl] Air France and KLM said they were not aware of such a deal with them.

iPod movies playable from water taxi's and..

subsequent legislation to ban the playing of any movies with Leonardo DeCaprio or Shelly Winters has simultaniously been proposed!

This is a terrible idea - back to boomboxes

The iPod - and the Walkman before it - in many ways replaced the boombox. No longer would travelers or commuters force their own choice of music on others. Exit audio pollution, hello visual pollution!

however will they do it?

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane [CC]" or "Alive [CC]") from appearing on the seat-back displays.

Yeah, we've only had portable DVD players for about eight years, so the issue has never come up before. I assume they'll put several viewing enforcement marshalls on every flight - that's the most straightforward answer, anyway.

Great until

some terrorist plot to blow up 10 airplanes mid-atlantic using consumer electronic devices is busted last-minute.

Then flying will again suck even more.

will they interrupt playback ...

every ten minutes when they announce that the beverage cart will be starting soon? That's one reason I prefer my own entertainment device: I decide when to hit pause.

well...

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays.

I would imagine in the same way they keep people from reading hustler magazines on the flights - social humiliation and common decency. Besides, in this post 9/11 world, you *really* don't want to mess with flight attendants.

Watching 'Alive' on a plane

My girlfriend already saw 'Alive' on a plane as part of the usual entertainment program on board a few years ago.

Funny thing is that she actually was on a flight over the Andes, from Argentina to Chile with a local airline.

This is great news for extremely frequent flyers.

I'm on track to fly about 100,000 miles this calendar year, maybe more. I almost never go to the movies, largely because I know I'll see them all on planes. It's gotten to the point where I'll see a movie on an intercontinental flight one week, the be disappointed by it being on other flights in subsequent weeks, since I've already seen it.

(In-flight magazines also get really old, really fast, when you're doing several flights on an airline in the space of a month.)

Being able to bring a bunch of my own video on my iPod - and charge it to boot - sounds like a great deal to me. I've been flying one of Continental/KLM/Air France's partner airlines, so I hope that one will get on board also.

Zune FTL!

I was thinking about how MS might want to work a similar deal to allow people to use their Zunes on airplanes, but then I realized that the airlines might not want people running wireless devices of any kind on an airplane.

It seems like this is a huge win for Apple, as the iPod has no embedded wireless features that might screw with the plane's electronics.

Does anyone know if people will even be allowed to use Zunes on airplanes? Or is there a setting to turn off the wireless capabilities while on airplanes? And will people actually find and use that setting?

Moo

I wonder how the airlines are going to keep inappropriate video (i.e. porn or even just movies like "Snakes on a Plane" or "Alive") from appearing on the seat-back displays.

...and how would that be any different than if you brought those movies with you and played them on your notebook or portable DVD player?

If it's pr0n, they'll tell you to put it away, just like they would if you were "reading" Hustler, or something like that. Otherwise, they're most likely not going to bother. Nobody complained when I watched Airplane! on a flight back east earlier this year. :-)

A simple solution...

iBlinders - similar to the kind they use to block a horse's peripheral vision.

Ever hack a plane?

We must realize that this will not stop at iPods. Necessary adaptors will emerge, and people will be bringing their Wiis and XBox 360s onboard Boeing craft in no time. But wait, it doesn't have to stop there. In order to impose any form of content control, the entire system of iPod-to-screens will need to be centrally wired. That means dozens of iPods, all on a central network. All you really have to do from then on is bring your laptop, an enormous external hard drive, and the right cables, and you're in business. The selection of movies and music will be nothing short of impressive. And if you get bored with that... well... who says you can't hack a 747?

Apple needs to embrace indie content more

I look around the Web and what you see is a massive inventory of user genertaed content and then a much smaller inventory of good, indie content. Apple needs to be an advocate of these great spots -- like "PS3 vs. Wii" or "modern man: what do you do with the load". Both are hilarious and a step above the voyueristic stuff that has long since gotten a bit old. Apple...take the lead

Re:Charge iPods?

Are you kidding? The last movie I saw on an airplane was the Shaggy Dog remake...

If I'm going to plunge to earth from a mile above, I want to make damn sure that I'm watching a movie I picked. Or at least, not Shaggy Dog.

Re:Censorship?

The concern would be the potential un-parental approved watching of movies by children. There are many movies that parents do not want their children exposed to at a too-young age. Some things are not age appropriate and sometimes children fly alone on planes, or the parents catch a nap in-flight, etc. I think you get the point.

Re:Charge iPods?

"Personally, I prefer to not divert power from the plane's engines.

MY GOD, I had NO idea that iPods use enough power to tax a jetliner's engines. Do they require 3 phase power, or will they work from US standard 120/240 volt split phase power? How much do they cost to run for one month, assuming 6 hours of use a day and 10 cents per KWh?

Re:Charge iPods?

I suspect that when the engines need the power, they'll take precedence. Sheesh, modern electronics do have a level of sophistication to them...

Re:Censorship?

Snakes on a Plane is an "airline disaster" movie of sorts. It might push people already apprehensive about flying over the edge, or it might end up scaring kids who happen to glance at the video, or the person watching might panic. It's not terribly unreasonable to keep such movies off the plane.

Re:Charge iPods?

The engines generate electricity much like the alternator in your car does. Yes, having a bigger alternator takes away some power from the engine. But if the engine is designed to handle the load of the alternator and still have plenty of power to do it's job, then there is no problem.

Power outlets and more TVs just require more juice than what was used in the past. People are plugging their laptops in and watching DVDs for entire flights. Charging a plane full of iPods seems rather trivial in comparison.

Re:wha?

Um, dude, the screens are on the seat in front of you. They're on the back of the seat.

Re:laptop

Not really. The iPod charger outputs a max. of 5v DC. Most laptop chargers output ~9-12v DC. Also, laptop chargers draw significantly