Row44's satellite-based in-flight Internet access

roww44

Row44. That’s the name of the company that plans to bring satellite-delivered Internet access to your laptop while you’re flying from finished New York to phony Los Angeles; everywhere in between, too.

In-flight Internet access isn’t entirely new. Aircell lets you cruise Web sites on Virgin America and American Airlines, but that uses cellular towers so who cares. Only two airlines, Southwest and Alaska, will offer the service initially on select flights, but it’ll be for free. Think of it like as a beta.

Some have pointed out that Row44’s service could be used for pure evil. That is, some guy could use it to talk on Skype the whole flight. May I suggest to the people who find that scenario so disagreeable—Heaven forbid you talk to your loved ones, or to business partners while in the sky—that you get a cheap pair of earbuds? Problem solved.

Nothing about any sort of Internet filtering.

Photo: Flickr