Ok TV sucks. That's not because of the technology or anything, it's just that there's rarely anything good on. So much so that with the abundance of channels that show nothing but nothing, people actually feel safe watching TV programs, for that connection to their reality.
Now that airlines like JetBlue and Delta have premiered DirecTV and Dish Network respectively, it brings about an interesting mix of experiences.
The novelty factor is astronomically high. Watching even 36 of those hundreds of channels while flying across the country is amazing.
You have the Food Network, NBC, Discovery and more.
Fly as often as I do and you'd probably do what you'd do at home - channel surf for a while. With at most 36 channels, you'd likely soon tire and turn off the TV.
However even if you were to keep flipping channels, you'd become aware of an interesting problem with live broadcast TV - it was designed to be viewed by a stationary TV.
When you fly across the country, or for that matter, the world, the jet passes over vast tracts of land where the only residents are bison or mustangs, or rattlesnakes. The cable companies don't cover these regions, and if there is coverage, it's because of the spill over from a nearby satellite.
During these times, you have the dubious pleasure of flipping through frozen channels at best, and a "signal not found" message at worst.
It would make so much more sense for airlines to provide pre-recorded programming. From the perspective of the passenger, the majority of the programs are not time sensitive so even if it were to have been recorded earlier, the entertainment value would have been preserved.
So is live TV in jets about entertainment, or an addiction to real time information, like blackberries and cell phones?
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