Link Fu: power outlets on planes
Jan. 5th, 2015 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitouthttp://lifehacker.com/how-to-find-out-if-your-flight-has-in-seat-power-outlet-1445604437
Contains an embedded reference to SeatGuru's reference page on the same topic:
http://www.seatguru.com/articles/in-seat_laptop_power.php
The next time someone tells you a particular innovation is impossible, contemplate this gem from 2010:
http://gizmodo.com/5673651/could-a-plane-still-fly-if-every-seat-had-a-power-socket
"Simply put, the plane would be too heavy to take off. So claims various readers of The Atlantic, who wrote in after adding up the math and coming to the conclusion that to offer 120V AC sockets to every person you'd need "the equivalent of ten or so Chevy Volt batteries, and an inverter the size of a large refrigerator." This is if every person was using 2 amps of power over an eight hour flight, so it'd obviously vary."
Cuz, I mean, it's not like there's a fuel burning engine on that plane that could produce electricity.
*sigh*
Also, batteries have been shrinking for a while now.
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/asw_common/svc/oth_svc/battery/howto/
Adapters are provided for some situations (plug has a sleeve, British users, etc.)
Things have clearly progressed since 2006:
http://blog.chaddickerson.com/2006/05/15/laptop-power-on-planes-observations-tips-and-lessons/
A bit more about changing standards:
http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/3324/is-there-a-standard-power-adaptor-to-use-on-airplanes
ETA still more: Not about power outlets, but about the last pre-BYOD IFE systems, and how it replaced the black boxes with fiber to supply the bits direct to the screen.
http://crankyflier.com/2011/10/06/a-close-look-at-how-inflight-entertainment-gets-installed-on-an-airplane/
ETA: Outlets AND portables on Alaska Airlines
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/alaska-airlines-now-offers-flight-entertainment-straight-device/
That's the full solution: outlets, wifi, content that is available on a provided (for a fee) in cabin device OR the one you bring yourself.
JetBlue's offering, and their negative remarks about GoGo and Row44:
http://skift.com/2014/11/20/jetblue-figures-out-how-to-keep-wi-fi-free-disses-rivals-gogo-and-row44/
We're really deep into Coke vs. Pepsi here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/technology/personaltech/improving-in-flight-wi-fi-and-streaming-from-virgin-america-jetblue-and-more.html
According to the NYT, the massive failure of seatback phones is why IFEC has been slow to get going. I remember seatback phones. I don't think I ever used one.
Contains an embedded reference to SeatGuru's reference page on the same topic:
http://www.seatguru.com/articles/in-seat_laptop_power.php
The next time someone tells you a particular innovation is impossible, contemplate this gem from 2010:
http://gizmodo.com/5673651/could-a-plane-still-fly-if-every-seat-had-a-power-socket
"Simply put, the plane would be too heavy to take off. So claims various readers of The Atlantic, who wrote in after adding up the math and coming to the conclusion that to offer 120V AC sockets to every person you'd need "the equivalent of ten or so Chevy Volt batteries, and an inverter the size of a large refrigerator." This is if every person was using 2 amps of power over an eight hour flight, so it'd obviously vary."
Cuz, I mean, it's not like there's a fuel burning engine on that plane that could produce electricity.
*sigh*
Also, batteries have been shrinking for a while now.
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/asw_common/svc/oth_svc/battery/howto/
Adapters are provided for some situations (plug has a sleeve, British users, etc.)
Things have clearly progressed since 2006:
http://blog.chaddickerson.com/2006/05/15/laptop-power-on-planes-observations-tips-and-lessons/
A bit more about changing standards:
http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/3324/is-there-a-standard-power-adaptor-to-use-on-airplanes
ETA still more: Not about power outlets, but about the last pre-BYOD IFE systems, and how it replaced the black boxes with fiber to supply the bits direct to the screen.
http://crankyflier.com/2011/10/06/a-close-look-at-how-inflight-entertainment-gets-installed-on-an-airplane/
ETA: Outlets AND portables on Alaska Airlines
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/alaska-airlines-now-offers-flight-entertainment-straight-device/
That's the full solution: outlets, wifi, content that is available on a provided (for a fee) in cabin device OR the one you bring yourself.
JetBlue's offering, and their negative remarks about GoGo and Row44:
http://skift.com/2014/11/20/jetblue-figures-out-how-to-keep-wi-fi-free-disses-rivals-gogo-and-row44/
We're really deep into Coke vs. Pepsi here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/technology/personaltech/improving-in-flight-wi-fi-and-streaming-from-virgin-america-jetblue-and-more.html
According to the NYT, the massive failure of seatback phones is why IFEC has been slow to get going. I remember seatback phones. I don't think I ever used one.
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no subject
Date: 2015-01-05 06:59 pm (UTC)To get to that max number on small electronics, you'd need every seat to start charging a less than full laptop battery where the laptop was a "performance laptop" (powering the 50-100W desktop replacement through matrix algebra and heavy graphics processing and charging the battery to the tune of another 100-150W). Like that would ever happen. More typically, 1/4th of the seats would use a typical laptop at 15-60 watts. And maybe 1/2 the seats would power a phone or tablet for 5-12 watts each. 5KW would more than cover it with generous headroom.
The plane already has 2 or 3 generators (one in the auxiliary power unit and at least one directly attached to one of the turbines). I bet the current entertainment system uses more power than the outlets ever would... I bet that lighting used to use more power, but the switch to LED lighting is less clear to me -- each seat probably (WAG) uses 5 to 20 watts of lighting now (but with halogen reading lamps in the past, would have been more like 60).
It does make me wonder how much the airlines make by selling movies vs. their cost of buying them and having displays everywhere. It's possible that it's a profit center they are reluctant to fool with.
silly math
Date: 2015-01-05 07:43 pm (UTC)There is _definitely_ a profit center associated with airplanes licensing movies and reselling them on the flight. Just like with every other aspect of the mobile revolution, it is tricky going from the advertising and/or subscription model of the previous business to the as yet undetermined model of mobile -- and especially so with so many venture funded players going for market share and giving it all away for free.