In-flight entertainment

NET RESULTS:APOLOGIES TO Dermot Mannion, but I did something I wasn't supposed to do on an Aer Lingus flight to the US last weekend, writes John Collins

According to the Aer Lingus website, any electronic gadget which has Bluetooth or WiFi, as well as what it calls "BlackBerry technology", cannot be used at any time on an Aer Lingus flight - not even in the "flight" mode most of these devices offer, which ensures wireless is turned off.

Well, sorry Aer Lingus but it was a 12-hour flight and my music is on an iPhone (which has Bluetooth, WiFi and is also a mobile phone).

Your new Airbus A330s may have an impressive personal entertainment system in the back of every seat. But I'm not a fan of the current crop of Hollywood blockbusters and there are only so many episodes of the Sopranos or games of Missile Command you can immerse yourself in to while the hours away.

While it's understandable that Aer Lingus has safety concerns, it has taken the line that anything that might potentially interfere with an aircraft's systems is out of bounds. It's a highly conservative approach - most US carriers let you use your mobile phone and other wireless kits right up to take-off, even when the doors are closed and you are in a queue to get on to the runway.

I've always been sceptical about airlines' attitudes to the dangers of consumer electronics at 12,000m above the Atlantic. Let's face it: given that almost everyone now carries a mobile phone, are you telling me there is not at least one phone left on during each flight? And yet the planes are not falling from the skies.

Of course, the situation is changing fast. In April, the European Commission announced it would license the use of mobiles and the internet on aircraft flying in EU airspace (although delays in individual EU member states making the regulatory changes mean we probably won't see phones on flights this year).

The service will only be available when aircraft reach 3,000m and it will use satellite communications. Because there will be an onboard base station, mobile handsets will operate at a lower power level and will not interfere with onboard communication or navigation systems.

The European announcement led to lots of discussion, which shows that the issue of phones on flights is a thorny one to say the least. Personally, I can get tense enough on long flights without some twit behind me shouting "I'm on a plane" into a phone.

But I'd be in favour of being able to use my PC or send a text as I cruise at 800km an hour. In a trial last year, Australian carrier Qantas only allowed phones to be used to send texts and collect e-mail. European commissioner Viviane Reding also spoke of having "zones of tranquillity" on flights so that passengers would not bothered by calls.

With so much of our PC usage now requiring an internet connection, it's hard to spend 12 hours on a flight and still be productive if you can't communicate with the outside world.

At the end of my flight, I got off the aircraft and walked into a familiar controversy for the Irish - e-voting machines. In my hotel room, CNN was carrying coverage of a controversy in Texas where early voters claimed to have voted for US presidential candidate Barack Obama but the machines registered them as voting for John McCain. Despite heavy investment in the technology, 10 states have failed to satisfy tests carried out by three voting security advocacy groups.

In Ireland, we spent almost €50 million in 2004 on software and voting terminals, but they have never been used other than in a trial.

I have a suggestion for John Gormley, who as Minister for Local Government inherited the e-voting mess. Stick the e-voting machines up for sale on eBay and save the taxpayer the €500,000 a year we are apparently paying for these outdated machines to be kept in storage.

Considering the state of the exchequer finances, any sum raised, no matter how small, would be gratefully received.