Are we finally at the place where we can make cell phone calls on airplanes? PLEASE NO! Listen in to find out.
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Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck, and there's guest producer Jerry sitting in for Dave c. Yeah, and this is short Stuff getting up. No time to explain any of the Jerry Dave thing, No, not at all, because we're on an airplane and there's a jerk in first class yammering on his cell phone because it's now okay to talk on take cell phone calls on planes. Why would you do that to me? Why would you even create that, that little situation, that sketch of a horrible day, just to drive fear into people, because it's not really true. Um, it's been a while since I've flown on a plane. Exactly one year actually, oh yet to the day, not to the day, but about then about a year in a WEEKI jerk, fifty four weeks. Uh. But yes, you cannot make sell phone calls because there are a couple of bodies in the United States that make sure you can't. The f A A and the f C c OH. I thought you were going to say Rob Low and Tom Selleck, just a couple of bodies. Yeah, um, so yeah, there's actually two federal agencies that ban the use of cell phones because everybody hates it so much that everyone wanted to get a no banning it. The f a A says, well, the reason we ban it is because we're pretty sure that that could conceivably interfere with the planes instrumentation. Um, and you don't want to do that because you could make a plane drop out of the skuy probably And the SEC says yeah yeah. Plus also it will totally mess with calls on the ground because those ones up in the air will be jumping from tower to tower and it will just be a big problem. Yeah. And I think pre two wasn't didn't you even have to power down your cell phone? Yes, they were like, just don't just take your cell phone and throw it out the window, like Mitt Rodney says, roll down your your airplanes window and just throw it out midflight. We don't even want them onto here. They were basically like, just do not do anything with your cell phone. And then finally somebody told them about airplane mode, appropriately called airplane mode because it cuts off the cellular service on your phone, but it remains it keeps like the WiFi intact if you're if you have it turned on right, and ever since then you could at least go through and and spend a couple of hours deleting pictures that you don't need clogging up your storage space. That's right. I like to just like there's one of the things that was always great about a flight, as you were just disconnected for an hour or five hours or something, you were just just like you could bring an actual printed book with you and like read it, you know. But with the with the advent of WiFi on planes and everything, it's like, now it's connected and you can commu indicade and it's just you can do other stuff that you do under normal circumstances, and it's ruined everything. Yeah, I will still unless I really legitimately have stuff I have to get done for work, I will still not get my laptop out and get online just to surf the web. I'm like, I give myself that break. Yeah. No, it's a it's good to do. It's you know, it's so easy to be addicted to computers and the Internet and everything that sometime it's hard. It is. Uh, the deal with whether or not it could really interfere with communication systems or the planes flight systems. Uh, that is probably not the case because planes are hardened, meaning um, all of those electronics that are important on a plane, like the flight control system are covered or you know, boxed in this electrically conductive material that prevents any kind of electromagnetic interference. So they've kind of taking care of that for the most part, but they still air on the side of caution and they're like, but let's just not do it. Still. Yeah, they do know that electro magnetic interference can affect planes. Things like lightning and solar flares UM have affected instrumentation on planes, and especially with GPS, which is critical in uh, take off but especially landing. Um. It's it's it's really sensitive to electro magnetic radiation interference. So you don't want anything messing with that, least of all somebody who just has to talk on the phone, because the worst reason to allow it, right, So they know that it can happen, but they couldn't find in this one study in the two thousand odds uh, any any smoking gun that said, yes, this plane fell out of the sky because somebody was talking on a cell phone. It was just they knew it was conceivably possible. Even though they shielded or hardened the stuff, um to prevent that that. They still said, it's just it's just not worth it. Everybody hates people talking on cell phones anyway, so why would we make an exception when it could also conceivably mess with the planes? Instrumentation agreed. Should we take a break? Yes, all right, we'll take a break and finish up with this stuff right after this. Alright. So here's what they don't have on planes is any kind of alert to a flight attendant that says, hey, there's a jerk on row fifteen in the middle seat that's hunched down and using their cell phone. Go back there and stop him. They don't have prejudice. Yeah, totally. They should bring that pot of coffee. Um, they should stop. They should have that stuff, but they don't. But generally, I think anybody if they saw their seat mate next to them trying to make a phone call or calling somebody would be smart enough to alert the flight attendant and say, hey, you can't do this, get this jerk off a here. My hand would shoot up. Like a third grader with the right answer to the question the teacher just asked, I'd be like, oh, oh, they're on their phone. I would sell on somebody so fast, Yes, yeah, and I wouldn't even care if they gave me stitches for niches. That's right. Um at thirty six thousand feet though, you're not gonna be connecting with the cell tower anyway. I think we have all been in situations where we may not have realized that our phone wasn't on airplane mode, and you'll hear You're like, when you start to land, you'll hear your phone ding, like a message just come through, and you're like, oh boy, I didn't know that that could even happen. Uh. They must really mean it when they say put your phone on airplane mode. Yeah, that's what the SEC's whole position was, is that um air traffic would mess with ground traffic, and that cell phone towers are basically designed to hand off from one tower to the next in a cell um as you're walking by, UM, driving by tops, not you know, flying a couple of hundred miles an hour at ten thousand feet as you're coming in for a landing. Yeah there, and yeah, exactly a bunch of people on a plane all doing at the same time, because you're gonna attack the capacity of each tower they're not designed to register in handoff calls like that that fast. Um, and so the the SEC is like that could really interrupt ground communications. So that's another reason not to do it. Yeah, but generally those uh, they're not looking up anyway, which is why you can't get that signal at thirty six thousand feet. But like I said, anything less than ten thousand beat and it might be possible, So you just shouldn't try. Still. Yeah, and Richard Branson said, what is one way that I can fully ruin the experience of flying for people? And uh in two thousand and ten, I believe around then he came up with the answer, and that was to offer cell phone service via UM little uh what are they called pico Yeah, Pico cells. Pico cells, little tiny cell towers that use the plane's WiFi to transmit cell phone calls. So on Virgin UM some Virgin flights that are not in the United States or within two fifty poles of the United States, you can make cell phone calls aboard the plane. Yeah, that's I think he probably thought that would enhance the experience because he's all about I mean, we both flown rgin. It's it's the best. It's awesome. Oh yeah, there's that pantry. You can stand up and just go get candy from any time you want to love it. That Australian flight was like the one of the nicest experiences I've ever had in the air, for sure. I I suspect he's promoting his Virgin Mobile business though by well maybe you know, but it is weird that someone that has taken such great care to make the flight such a great experience then ruins it by saying everyone can talk on their cell phones now. Maybe. Yeah, nice chill lights, lavender aroma therapy. It is such a nice experience, for sure. It really is country. Hey, while we're here, I just want to say, I want to take a second when we're talking about Virgin Uh, my niece Mila just recently flew to New Zealand for eleven weeks because she's co starring in a major motion picture and that's where they're shooting. Are you serious? I am dead serious, man. My parents are there right now for a level week. She is and wow she is. Yeah, like she's one of the co lete she's one of the main characters. Like I think her hands are going to be on the poster. That's amazing, isn't it huge? Congratulations, it's really exciting. I'll keep you posted as I can. To be honest, I'm not entirely certain I can include this, so we may end up editing it out. But at the event, at least you know now well and when the time comes, we can promote it on movie crush. Oh nice, thanks man, that's very of course. So uh. The FCC basically spent many years saying, like, Okay, is this really a problem? Should we allow like Richard Branson's making us look like total jerks? Should we allow this? And they, after several years of study, they concluded they said, no, nuts, nuts to Richard Branson. They said the flight attendants. You know, they asked a lot of people. They didn't just do the studies about safety. They asked actual people who work on planes, and the flight attendants were all like, no, known, Oh no, they need to be listening to us, um, Especially in the case of an emergency. The first thing everyone would do would be to get out their phone and try and call their loved ones. And that's when they most need to be listening to things. Right, that's a big one, um. But then there's also the annoyance factor. And this to me is where it just becomes like the most important thing. Just everything else forget it. It's so obnoxious to even while you're on the tarmac waiting for them to shut the door, and there's people sitting there talking on the phone. That's obnoxious. Enough of food from the food court even that, I'm like, Okay, at least they're they're providing their bodies sustenance and nourishment. I can live with it. The phone is like and you can tell from the conversation there's just no point in this transpiring, and yet it is, and and there's another one in, another one, another one. Being on a plane like that for many, many hours is awful. It's an awful idea. Yeah, it's that situation and where John Hodgeman always talks about being aware of the impact that you have on others, and I've always subscribed to that. But the person that has their shoes off and they got their Panda Express like piping hot meal in their lap and they're talking on their cell phone before the flight takes off, that's the person that's like paid for the seat, Let just do what I wanted, and I paid for the seat. Don't be that person, I know, Yeah, because you just don't have an effect on everybody. Be kinder, think about other people. Yeah, but hey, enjoy your pain expressed because you're providing. There's got to be some nourishing nutrients somewhere. Sure. Yeah, those green peppers are okay. You got anything else? I got nothing else? Okay, Well, then that means short stuff says stay off your phone. Stuff you should Know is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.