Emirates: Thank you very little

We saw this fairly disturbing news last week. Apparently Emirates allowed the "first authorized mobile phone call made from a commercial flight" last Thursday. This follows the several million unauthorized wireless calls, texts, bbery messages, etc. made daily on US flights - - you know who you are.

This was no gimmick - Emirates plans to roll this "service" out on all flights. That's right - - now you can enjoy a trip around the globe while receiving continuous sidestream updates on some blowhard's all-important business deal, Aunt Polly's gout, and how much Pookums misses their Little Boo, and conversations that end with "No, I love you more - you hang up first..." The silver lining? Apparently only six of these goofs that don't recognize the value of a few hours unplugged can talk at one time.

A bit off our core topic, but inevitably carriers will charge for this service, or offer legitimate distribution services via inflight wireless devices, so we figured we'd keep the FMV audience up to date. In the meantime, note to self: remember not to fly Emirates. And also:

From "Today’s Cartoon by Randy Glasbergen", displayed with special permission. For many more cartoons, please visit Randy's site @ http://www.glasbergen.com/. Thank you, Randy!