Airlines

From the Associated Press, “Welcome to the promise of the Internet at 33,000 feet - and the questions of etiquette, openness and free speech that airlines and service providers will have to grapple with as they bring Internet access to the skies in the coming months.”

At long last it looks like we will be able to connect to the web on airplanes. Whether this is a good idea really depends on how they decide to implement web service. Here are a few tips for any product managers in the audience.


A Little Bit Of Turbulence

Lower the pay wall. While busy executives might not mind paying $10 an hour for wireless access in airports, the entire point of allowing people to access the web on the planes themselves is to bring casual users into the fold. Either find a way to make access a part of the ticket price, or make it as easy to buy as a bag of peanuts.

Be careful with your content filters. While it would be extremely bad if someone happened to be surfing for 2 Girls 1 Cup (SFW) in close proximity to a child, it would be almost as bad if sites like YouTube were blocked just because they host possibly questionable material.

Keep it simple. If I have to go through a complex setup process just to use the web, I am probably just going to take a nap. Sell access codes alongside premium snack cart products, let frequent flyers purchase access in advance, provide a la carte service for people who don’t need access for the entire trip. Make it easy.


Web 2.0 Roundup

Of course there a lot of other questions that need to be asked — like what do they do about bandwidth hogs. Those, however, only come after the airlines create a model that people actually want to use. Hopefully, as they roll out these new products that will keep the needs of their consumers at the top of mind. What do you think?

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