I once rode a bus from Boston to NYC in the middle of a winter storm at night. The bus got lost and the trip ended up taking close to 7 hours. These buses had TVs for showing video tapes, and so partway through, the driver decided to show “The Ring”. Let me tell you, an involuntary horror movie screening in the middle of a blizzard is quite a memorable experience.
The seat-back screens on planes are mostly crap. Thick, heavy, poor color and brightness, and shitty software. They should just get rid of them and instead provide a bracket for the tablets or phones that everybody already has. Would save a decent amount of weight too. I'd still want a moving map and video feed from the tail camera, but they could just stream that over WiFi.
Really depends on the aircraft. It reflects the age/generation of the aircraft and isn’t crappy just because it’s on an aircraft. 747s had, and A330/A380 still have, these issues. Slow CPUs, washed out colors, massive boxes taking up space under every seat. Not because it’s an aircraft but because it’s early 2000s technology.
Any newer aircraft reflects the advances you see in newer consumer electronics: if you’re on a 787 or A350 the screens are large, colorful, highly responsive, with a much larger selection of content, and none of the ugly control boxes taking up space because the screens are basically modern fast and slim Android tablets.
Which aircraft you are on is at best loosely correlated with the quality of in flight entertainment system you will use.
Seats are purchased by the airlines, they are made by separate manufacturers like Recaro or Zodiac and not by the airframe manufacturer (Airbus or Boeing). While the seats obviously need to be compatible with the airframe, there are a wide variety of options and it is common for airlines to refresh old airframes with new seats.
IFE systems are not manufactured by the airframe or the seat manufacturers, they are made by companies like Panasonic. They obviously need to be compatible with the seat, and my understanding is that it is uncommon for airlines to update the IFE system without also replacing seats.
So, while a newer aircraft type typically will have a more up to date IFE system, there are plenty of old aircraft that have new IFE and seats retrofitted.
The interior may be refurbished only 1-2 times during the economic life of the airframe, so the rule generally still holds. 747s are old enough that chances are, even the IFE tech installed during the refurb is outdated. A380s aren’t yet old enough to have had their interior refurbed for the first time, so their IFE tech is similarly outdated.
all of what you said really exists today and is in use (just not as widely as perhaps it should be)
i.e. those brackets exist and are available on many airlines today. Sometimes they provide wifi with the ability to connect to the provided entertainment system (so one doesn't have to bring one's own content, just the display device).
A fair bit to unpack about forced viewing of this film in particular. The subject is largely about how people aren't connected while being spoiled with opportunity
No way do I buy the explanation that multiple passengers requested this specific movie “Daddio.”
Everyone has a phone, those without could be handed robust tablets.
In flight entertainment systems are a regulated part of the safety infrastructure onboard. A phone is unfortunately not a replacement for them, yet.
Many airlines have had generally available models of tablets (such as iPads) to hand out on their aircraft lacking screens. eg. Hawaiian Airlines when they still had 767s.
The issue is not that tablets can't be used, but there must be ways to communicate safety information to everyone. On planes where tablets are handed out, there will likely be alternatives for the safety aspect, and on planes with non-working in-seat entertainment those alternatives may not exist.
I've been on many planes where it was done like this - A320s I believe. Probably WestJet.
Because of the intro videos?
I have been on flights recently where the in-flight entertainment is delivered over in-flight wifi. I also chose to watch videos I had previously downloaded on a streaming service. Phones and tablets are already replacing these screens for some.
That and I've yet to be on a plane where the screen couldn't be dimmed all the way off via controls at my seat.
It’s not always possible, or not always obvious. I finally hung a jacket over my screen on one flight.
I always wonder if there is a product with an adhesive strip or something just for this. Like a big sticky note. Even when you manage to dim it all the way and/or turn off the screen, it seems to get reset often which is jarring and annoying
Spirit of Australia
That is my take, isn't R rated in US equal to G rated in Australia ?
Pretty much, the domestic releases of Bluey have a lot more dogging and swearing than the expurgated US market releases.
Hey, what do you mean by Dogging?
Also, in Bluey in Australia they say "Cheese & Jam" or "Biscuits" or whatnot instead of any swearing and it's always as a sound of frustration at the environment. Is that censored in the US version?
The natural behaviour of dogs, and ... the comment is a classic leg pull.