I travel quite a bit given what we do, and in general I am on a plane at least once a week.
Hence I get somewhat of a “bird’s eye” view of the tech that finds itself into the hands of my seat mates on a regular basis.
With the above in mind let me provide a brief history of “Tech in the Air” since 2000:
- 2000 to 2005
- Laptops were always pushed back into laptop bags half way through a flight from PDX to BOS. Simply because the batteries only lasted 3 hours. So much for “all day battery life” back then.
- 2005 to 2010
- Laptops made it through most of the flight, but only if you set the brightness at Level 1.
- 2010/11
- Tablets begin to appear. First only with business users….And battery life was rarely an issue
- 2012/13
- Tablets appear in the hands of a number of my seat mates…And not just in the hands of business users, but in the hands of families that are going to Disney World.
Now let us pause for a moment. What’s happening this month?
Oh that’s right – Gate to Gate device usage becomes a reality, unless of course you are holding a laptop. And gate to gate only works if you are holding a smartphone or a tablet.
So what have I seen on the 4 flights I’ve been on since the FAA made the change?
Already, many more tablets, and a lot fewer laptops.
In short, while the jury is still out, and I’m sure someone is compiling a study on this trend as I write this, early signs indicate that….
It’s amazing how much power 40 minutes can hold when you are deciding what to put in your “laptop bag” before you leave for the airport.