Goodbye sleep, hello fist fights

I'm loosing track of how many times I've said in-flight cellphone use is a bad idea, but it looks like the lure of money is pushing airlines and cellphones companies to make this happen. I've personally yet to meet anyone who thinks this is a really good idea but I do have a suggestion... maybe they can beta-test the concept on those high flying wheeler dealers up in first and business class? These are supposedly the time-is-money I jus-godda-tell-yer BUY-BUY-SELL-SELL clientel that airlines will be targeting for this service.

Let them see how nice it is to hear some awful cellphone ringer blasting the latest ditty in the middle of their slumber. Previously I'd only ever thought about the typical cellphone blather masquerading as conversations we'd all have to endure. But think about it - a few hundred bored people in a plane with nothing better to do use the cellphone. Those ringers are going to be going off the hook, it'll be worse than your local cinema on a Saturday night. Don't put your faith in noise cancelling head phones either, they aren't going to save you from obnoxious cacaphony of ring tones - they are good for the roar of jet engines but not designed to cancel music and pure tones. So all those folk "up front" are soon going to find out that all the reclining seats, foot rests and liquid slumber aides in the world wont let them get a good sleep any more. They might just as well be back in cattle class with the rest of us.

As ever my suggestion for in-flight cellphones is DONT and if you really have to, then put in a real sound proof cellphone booth and charge for that. You know this isn't really about passenger convenience, its about money - airlines and cell carriers are booth going to make a ton of money with higher rates for their sky bound callers. So if they are making money why should other passengers with no interest in this enterprise suffer? Hence I say, send them to the cellphone booth and put an extra busy/vaccant sign up for it just like you do with the restrooms.