Activity 1

Personal Technology

1. Current rules of both the FCC and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ban in-flight cellular
calling. The primary FCC concern has been possible disruption of cellphone communication on the
ground. The FAA’s worry is how cellphones might interfere with a planes navigation and electrical
systems. However, plans are in the works to assign new bandwidths to allow cellphone use in the
air.
Do several keyword searches and find three reasons to allow cellphone use during airplane flights,
and three reasons not to allow it. Provide information to support each reason. What is
your opinion in this issue?

Reasons why not to allow:

 Uncomfortable flight
Rotenstreich, 49, has reason to be a vigilant flier. In the mid-1990s, he found himself
climbing out of an emergency exit onto the wing of a plane that crashed at the end of a
LaGuardia Airport runway trying to abort takeoff. No one was killed, and the accident had
nothing to do with cellular interference, but seeing fellow fliers on their phones does give
Rotenstreich pause.
"It definitely makes me uncomfortable," he said.

 Interference
Voluntary reports to the Aviation Safety Reporting System provide some anecdotal
evidence of incidents (PDF) that might be tied to interference. One synopsis reports a
B757's fuel gauge "blanked after (takeoff) and became operable prior to (landing)." The
crew suspected interference from portable electronic devices, according to the summary.
Typical instances include automatic disengagement of the autopilot at an altitude of 400
feet above ground level during an auto pilot assisted approach. The commander, however,
continued the approach as the runway was in sight to land uneventfully.

In another case, after getting airborne with the Heading and VNAV selected, the flight
director commanded a right turn while the aircraft was still on the runway heading.
Subsequently at 1DME when a left turn was selected and heading selector (HDG SEL) was
pressed, there was no output and the flight director still commanded a right turn. An
immediate public announcement was made for any passenger using mobile/hand phone
to switch off the set immediately. The cabin crew in this case confirmed use of the mobile
phone by a passenger in seat Row No. 3 when the above public announcement was being
made.

M/s Boeing Co. had in one of their Service Letter to all operators on the subject of
passenger carry on electronic devices conveyed concern of the operators on the adverse
effect of electromagnetic emissions from these devices on airplane navigation, control and
 communication system. This is because that the portable electronic devices carried on
board airplane by passengers are not guaranteed to meet the stringent electromagnetic
emission standards imposed on certified airborne equipment. Many of

 Chattering on phones
Take those two camps and add passengers who say either way, listening to fellow travelers
chatter on the phone would be annoying, and you have a heated debate -- sometimes
literally in the airplane aisles.

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-using-a-cell-phone-not-allowed-during-a-flight#
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/21/cell.phones.planes/index.html

Reasons why to allow:

 Evolution of technology
"In the past two decades, technology and engineering has evolved, and specialized
onboard systems that can effectively prevent interference with wireless networks on the
ground have been designed and successfully deployed internationally," wrote the FFC in
its announcement.
 Emergency calls
Yep, lots of international airlines, in fact, though many only offer the service on select
routes. Among the carriers that let fliers chat in addition to text and browse the web are
Emirates, Etihad, and Qantas. So far, there have been no major incidents traced to the fact
that phone calls are allowed. Budget carrier Ryanair even discontinued voice calls because
passenger interest in them was so low after trying the service in 2009.
 Boredom
Airlines are adding more and more power plugs to keep passengers’ phones and tablets
charged. To see if the aircraft on your flight has plugs—some now even offer handy USB
connections—check with your airline or consult SeatGuru.com, which shows seat-by-seat
info for all major carriers.
https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2014-06-16/everything-you-need-to-know-about-using-a-cell-
phone-on-a-plane

My opinion about this matter, is that why take risk using your phones if there is a possibility that it may link
to your possible death, accidents happen all the time, you never know what may causes it so crossing out
one reason may help or may not reduce the percentage of your safety in your flight. But it’s better to be
safe than to be sorry later.
2. List five situations in which you often find yourself multitasking. How any things have you done at
once? How do you think your manner of multitasking affects the quality of what you achieve?

3. Now that cellphones have cameras, camera voyeurism is becoming a problem. The U.S. Voyeurism
Prevention Act of 2004 has made this behavior a federal offense. This act prohibits photographing
or videocapturing (including with cellphone) a naked person without his or her consent in any place
where there can be “a reasonable expectation of privacy.” Punishment includes fines of up to
$100,000 or up to a year in prison, or both.
Cellphone vendors say this law may be hard to enforce and may even be a deterrent tp promising
technology and create a false sense of security. Some cellphone manufacturers deny that voyeurs
are any more likely to snoop using a cellphone camera than using other technologies such as digital
cameras. But other people say the opportunity differs, that most people don’t carry digital camera
s around with them. With a cellphone camera there is more opportunity to take snapshots of
interesting images, and unfortunately this can include images that can threaten privacy. Voyeurs
using cellphone cameras could easily pretend to be doing something else, such as dialing or talking.
Some state legislators have proposed legislation requiring camera phones sold to emit an audible
noise or flash a light when user press the shutter. But such noise and light would disturb happy
occasions such as weddings, where people use cellphone cameras to take pictures and send them
instantly to loved ones who couldn’t attend.
Research the camera phone voyeurism problem on the internet. How could you protect your
privacy in public situations?