Working in the Clouds

Posted by | 10/21/2009 | 3 Comments

Today I’m working in the clouds. I’m not talking about online apps though, I’m literally working from seat 21C aboard a Virgin America flight and can see clouds out of the window as I fly from San Francisco to New York for a Windows 7 launch event. Typically a cross-country flight means a loss of productivity, but today I’m using Gogo in-flight WiFi.

I just fired off a ton of emails, caught up on some online banking and performed some minor site maintenance. I’ve also been chatting away on Skype. The in-flight WiFi is pretty darn slow right now, but at least I can get online. Service dropped out for a couple minutes mid-flight, but it’s been relatively smooth. Screen shot 2009-10-21 at 11.23.21 AM

The service cost $12.95 for the flight, which is pretty reasonable in my book.

Every Virgin America flight has Gogo, which means I change my usual travel routine when I fly the airline as opposed to others. Usually I wait as long as possible to board a flight so I can maximize my time online at the gate. I’m also usually writing or reading email on my iPhone until I’m told to put it away. Knowing there’s WiFi onboard makes for a much more relaxing takeoff procedure.

The one downside of having WiFi in the plane is that there’s no excuse not to work for half a day.

Category: Mobile

About the Author (Author Profile)

Xavier Lanier is the publisher of Gotta Be Moible and Notebooks.com. He's a mobile technology geek that uses an iPhone 4S, iPad 2, Galaxy Nexus and Kindle Fire on a daily basis. He's an expert photographer that shoots primarily with Nikon DSLRs. You can follow Xavier on Twitter @xavierlanier and Google+
  • GoodThings2Life

    Ouch @ $13 for a connection on par with dial-up… I mean, yeah, I paid $20 back in the day for AOL, but then again, that was for a month not a flight.

  • SAM

    Americans are work-a-holics….LOL

    Are there AC plug-ins for your laptop so
    you can surf the entire flight?

  • http://www.notebooks.com Xavier

    SAM- there are AC plugs, but only two per row. This means that some of us overworked Americans have to enjoy the on-board entertainment system rather than working the entire flight :-)

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