Seems the only way to get away from it all is to turn off the computer or
live in a remote jungle.  No doubt, with the desire for corporations to
make profits, the remote jungle will be a thing of the past.  Not just in
terms of accessing information but in terms of not having a remote jungle
to find oneself in. This message was posted originally by Steve Pattison
in Oz.

-- Steve

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 21:37:25 +1000
From: Steve Pattison <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Multiple recipients of NFBnet GUI-TALK Mailing List
    <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Aircraft Email



I came across this article recently and found it interesting.  However
there's no indication as to how accessible these services are.  -Steve.

The sky's no limit to e-mail

By GARRY BARKER
TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
Wednesday 25 April 2001

The last refuge of the tired, information-overloaded business traveller
has just been snatched away. E-mail and the Internet have reached the
skies.T
 oday, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747, will land at Melbourne Airport
carrying the world's first live commercial e-mail and Internet service
for passengers.   The airline plans to install a connection at every
seat in all three classes in its fleet of more than 100 wide-bodied
jets.
Once you could board a flight, sit back, sup a glass of bubbly and
relax secure in the knowledge that you were out of reach. That's gone.
Get out the laptop. Get connected. Work. You're in a galley-ship. Pull
your oar, mate. Here comes the boss with yet another e-mail.
Airlines and airports are keen to provide the level of connectedness
they know many of their passengers demand.  Airlines are increasingly
becoming mobile communications and entertainment centres.
As well as Internet and e-mail traffic, the big server computers going
into the Singapore Airlines planes will provide every seat with an
audio and video on-demand service, offering access to 50 movies, 60
hours of short video items and 100 audio CDs. "You could fly from
Melbourne to London and back, a 48-hour trip, and not touch more than
one-third of the entertainment available," said Stephen Forshaw,
Singapore Airlines' Australian spokesman.H
 undreds of thousands of Internet webpages will be downloaded and
stored in the airline servers. There will be no general connection to
the Web, no porn sites and, for the moment at least, probably no
gambling, because the service will not be interactive.
"We'll be providing news, stock market reports, entertainment and
similar material," Mr Forshaw said.
Singapore Airlines claims to be first in the world to offer the
satellite-based Internet and e-mail service, an adjunct to the
in-flight international telephone system it has offered since 1993.
The Internet and e-mail services will be free until September.
Other airlines will soon follow Singapore into constant communications
and non-stop entertainment, among them Virgin Atlantic and Scandinavian
Airlines.
Qantas is understood to be looking at airborne email systems but has no
immediate plans to install one. However, a company spokesperson said
yesterday that an electronic in-flight entertainment system would go
into the airline's fleet later this year.

Regards Steve,
mailto:[log in to unmask]


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