节目资讯
刊物:科技前沿
日期:2009-01-14
难易度:High
关键字:lore, Voice over Internet Protocol, broadband, pav
(Music).
Paving the way.
The departure of the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami-bound flights from New
York marked a key milestone for Aircell,
which opened its local facilities less than two years ago to build the
technology for Wi-Fi on commercial planes and won an exclusive license from the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2006.
”This is a very transformative step and in many ways mind-boggling,” Blumenstein
said in a phone interview from JFK,
where he was preparing to board one of the afternoon flights.
While the skies are slowly opening to Internet connectivity, cell phone usage is
still banned by the FCC.
Airline executives also say that U.S. customers, unlike many of their European
counterparts, want to keep airplanes a cell phone-free zone.
Aircell’s Wi-Fi service blocks the use of Voice over Internet Protocol
applications.
Market research does indicate demand for web access, especially on longer
flights.
A January [2008] report by Forrester Research showed that 41 percent of
passengers were interested in using the Internet during flights between two and
four hours,
with that percentage rising to 55 percent when the flight goes over four hours.
The title of this section is ”Paving the way.” It’s making it possible for us to
do it.
And if I would say by reading this, this is something like in Chinese say
(Chinese).
It’s kind of confusing, because someways they say, ”Yes, you can.” Another way
it says, ”No, you can’t.”.
It’s kind of mind-boggling to me. But what do you think about this, Howie?
It’s talking about the fact that they marked the milestone for Aircell; they
made the first one that they can say,
”We open this facilities to do this,” so it sounds like it’s OK.
And they got an exclusive license in 2006, but then it says they still haven’t
got a license.
So does FCC give them a license or not give them a license?
Well, according to the article, it says in 2006 they won an exclusive license
from the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC.
I think anything to do with transmitting or receiving a signal, it needs to go
through that government committee, or commission,
because they’re afraid that if you send signal, especially if you’re all the way
up in the airplane, like Steve was saying before,
it can interfere with something going on on the ground.
So I think they just wanted to take a lot of precautions.
They wanted to make a lot of evaluations to make sure that this is safe and it’s
not going to interfere with anything on the ground.
OK. Now you take the air and the ground.
I mean, there’s a big distance, I know that.
But there’s all these satellite radios and people can drive all the way across
the country.
It used to be you hear some music and then you’d go a little ways and you
couldn’t hear it anymore.
Now you have all these satellite radios. You can hear music from all over the
United States.
What’s to keep that from going up in the air, Steve?
I wish I could tell you. I’m not an engineer.
But someone has thought this through; they’ve figured it out.
People at Aircell have thought this through and they have presented their plan
to the FCC.
And obviously the FCC has been satisfied with this plan and they’ve given them
an exclusive license.
That is huge.
That’s why the author...
They use the word milestone because that is such a huge, huge, important event
in the history of this company.
That means this company can earn money where other companies are kept out when
they have that exclusive license.
An exclusive license means it’s a permission that’s not shared.
So this one company has the... has the only permission, basically.
So no other, like United Airlines, couldn’t do... or... anything, anybody else?
It could... Well, it depends.
Some licenses are for one year or two years, so maybe after two years they can
give a license to someone else or they can share a license.
OK.
Well, it’s a very transformative step, it says.
Transformative, it’s a very long word. And it means to have the power to
transform, the ability to transform.
So this step has the ability to change and to transform.
What does it transform?
I think it transforms the way we travel because now...
What we do on planes.
Exactly. Because everyone, when they’re on a plane, especially a long one, they
want to be entertained or they want to do some work.
In the past, people can... Of course, now we can watch TV or movies, listen to
music.
But if you want to browse the web, that wasn’t possible before.
So this transforms the way we entertain ourselves or do work now when we commute
on an airplane.
What about a little sleeping? That’s not bad.
That’s what I love to do, and I’m afraid my sleep might be in jeopardy with all
these people on the Internet.
Well, it is mind-boggling though, isn’t it, Steve?
It is mind-boggling. And that’s a funny word.
It means overwhelmed with astonishment, and I think Blumenstein is a little
overwhelmed by this.
It’s... uh... it’s a huge step as we said before.
It’s a milestone for this company.
They have exclusive rights to this technology for a time; it’s a lot of
responsibility.
And it could be, um... that they want to make sure it’s safe and then they can
go on to the next step.
But there’s a lot of money involved.
So I can see why Blumenstein would feel overwhelmed.
Well, if you look at line 5 here, we’re on page 24 about the in-flight Internet,
the skies are slowly opening to being connected to the Internet.
It uses the phrase ”Internet connectivity.” It means being connected to it,
right?
Exactly. Internet connectivity is just another way of saying being accessible or
having access to the Internet.
And that wasn’t possible before.
No, that’s one thing. The second thing is cell phone usage.
Boy, that’s... Cell phone usage is still banned by the FCC, isn’t it?
That’s right.
And unlike many of their European counterparts...
And counterpart simply means the similar companies or similar airlines in the...
in Europe.
I guess you can use your cell phone on a plane there.
Yeah.
We should make that distinction with our listeners that the Internet is being
allowed but cell phone use is not.
OK. Two things. Right.
Two very different things, but in my mind, I see them as very, very similar.
So, I’m a little... skeptical about why one is being used and one is not.
Why is one allowed and one not?
Well, you can use the Internet, of course, without talking,
but you can also use the Internet to talk on what we call VoIP, Voice over
Internet Protocol, like Skype and things like that.
So if you’re using your cell phone, you might as well use VoIP.
They’re both talking, right?
That’s right.
But if you say you can’t use your cell phone, which is talking, or VoIP, but you
can just get your e-mail and answer it,
then it’s probably as far as bothering other people that would be OK.
I don’t know about they do with the safety or the signals of the plane though.
I’m guessing it’s possible that on European flights, maybe Voice over IP is
allowed,
because if they allow cell phone access, then why not allow Voice over IP?
But in the United States, it’s banned by the FCC to use your cell phone,
and you also can’t use VoIP because, I’m guessing, and I read an article about
this, it’s gonna be too noisy on an airplane.
If you’re sitting there trying to sleep in an overnight flight and the person
next to you is just talking and talking using Skype,
it’s gonna be very bothersome.
Right.
And the author addresses that in the next paragraph.
He’s saying that shorter flights, people are willing to allow this.
On a flight that’s one hour, maybe two hours long, people could endure that.
But if you’re on a flight that’s longer, four, five hours, twelve hours going
across the Pacific Ocean, for example,
you’re gonna want your rest and you don’t want to be bothered by this stuff.
So they’re more opposed to it if the flight is longer.
Right, it says 55 percent.
It says... when the flight was over four hours, right?
Hmm.
So, it’s still quite a few people are used... are really thinking about using it
though.
Well, I think that there’s going to be a high demand, and it’s going to only
increase because it’s such a part of our lives now, the Internet.
Right.
I think everyone, we check our e-mails every day,
and some people go through withdrawal if they don’t get to check their e-mail or
browse the web.
Peple get their news on the web now, so I think it’s going to be in higher and
higher demand.
Yeah, one thing that people can consider, and they do this on trains already,
Doris.
I think in Europe, they have a cell-free zone.
So there’re sections of the train where you’re not allowed to use your cell
phone.
And they can do that on planes, too. They can mark off a section of the plane,
maybe in the back somehow,
and that’s where you go to use your Internet or your cell phones.
So I think that problem cloud be overcomed if we think about it some more.
Like they used to have the smoking and no-smoking areas.
Then they stop that.
I think they need to have a child-free zone, too.
I was... You know, sometimes babies cry, they can’t help it.
But if they have a little, maybe, upstairs on those big planes, they can let the
babies be upstairs.
That’s right. Could be a little nursery section up there.
Yeah.
Because it does make a difference.
But, Steve, also when you’re using your Internet and things, you often turn the
light on and...
and even though you can put something over your eyes, you know, it’s not the
same.
I think people will be more apt to leave their lights on and everything all
during the night if you’re on a long flight,
if they’re looking at the Internet.
Don’t you think so?
I think finding rest on a plane is totally difficult as it is.
And to bring in these other elements into the flight with people talking, and
the light from the screen, I would rather not have that myself.
If they have a cell-frees zone... right.
Cell-free, maybe Internet-free.
Some areas are not allowed to bring your laptop because if you’re trying to
sleep,
unless you have an... those eye masks, their screen is just gonna be glaring
right at you.
And then if you have a very long flight, you know, you usually have the...
when you get there, I mean, you’ve already changed your time zones and
everything,
so you probably need to catch a little sleep so you’re able to just do something
when you get off the plane.
Oh, man. It’s tough.
And as you know, friends, yeah, anyone who’s traveled on a flight for eight or
twelve hours would know, it’s, it’s really no fun.
So in one sense you can understand why people are clamoring for this.
They wanna be in touch with their friends and family; they want to do business
while they’re in the sky.
But I see the other argument, too, Doris.
I would really like to keep that flight as serene as possible.
I think that’s a good point there. Doesn’t hurt you to just relax a little bit,
sleep.
I think when they make the planes so that you can stretch out a little bit more,
like they’re doing on some of the planes,
that’s just as important because it’s very hard to sleep when you’re sitting
halfway up.
And I think, especially when you got long legs like some of us, Steve, a place
where you could really strech your legs out would be pretty important, too.
Oh, man.
I just came back from the States, as a matter of fact, and my knees were in the
seat in front of me for ten hours.
Yeah.
And it’s just very, very uncomfortable.
Right.
So there’s a lot they can do to make planes better.
But this is one thing that people are asking for... is to have the Internet
in-flight.
And so we’re gonna talk more about it. We have one more day on the subject.
But it is good to know what some of you think, too. So, let us know.
And today we have talked mostly about people are paving the way, but is it good
or bad?
If I had to vote for it right now, I’d go with Steve. I’d say we don’t really
need to. We can turn our computers off for a little while.
What would you say, Howie?
I think maybe they can offer it for the business class.
Or either that’ll charge a real ridiculous amount of money so that if you want
to really browse the web,
then, fine, you have to pay thirty, forty dollars an hour. But then...
What about a couple of hundred?
Yeah.
For businessmen, you know, big deal.
Or maybe a section on the plane, I wouldn’t be opposed to that if... if that
could work.
If you have a cell-free zone so people that... or just have a cetain zone where
people can use it, I think that would be OK.
Put it where the noise is on the plane, anyway.
Right. So as you choose your seat, you’ll know that you’re allowed to use your
laptop computer, for example, while you’re sitting down.
That would be a solution, maybe, yeah.
OK.
So, it is coming into being; it’s becoming popular; it’s taking off.
So we’ll talk more about it tomorrow because they’ve already paved the way, it’s
already started.
But now we’re going to talk tomorrow more about expanding the market, what
future of it is.
And we might want to find out more about it because you might be sitting next to
somebody who was surfing the net when you’re trying to sleep.
That’s right. And if you don’t like it, then you can tell them to turn off their
computer.
I don’t think that’ll be a very popular thing. They might tell you,
”Uh, well, that’s right. Just close your eyes. Just don’t worry about it.”.
Give me that eye mask.
They’ll tell you they just paid forty dollars to do that.
Right.
What are they gonna do?
Well, it’s a good subject to talk about because people will be traveling now
during the lunar holidays.
A lot of people will.
Some of them will just be going to places two or threee hours away.
Some might go to Europe on special trips, or go to the States and...
And it’s a good subject, so it’s... it’s a very good one for us to study just
before you go on your Chinese New Year vacation.
So come back to class tomorrow as we finish the article.
Thank you for being with us today, Steve and Howie.
And I hope you’ll be back tomorrow.
I definitely will.
I’ll be here.
See you then.
Bye, everyone.
Bye.
Bye-bye.