Would You Like An iPad With That Sir?

Jetstar, an Australian domestic airline, have started offering iPads as a form of in-flight entertainment. For $10, you have the device for the entire journey and take full advantage of the preloaded books, magazines, music, movies and games. With on-board Wi-Fi, the lucky passenger will be able to browse the web, check Facebook, and update Twitter all from the comfort of his seat. The initiative is due to trial in June with Wi-Fi disabled. However, it is expected to be enabled if the trial is successful. Jetstar CEO, Bruce Buchanan, said that the company was expecting the service to be extremely popular:

Based on the demand for iPads, we’ll be looking to roll out the devices across our entire domestic and international network later in the year.

But will it really take off? Personally, the iPad and iPhone alike seem to be centred around personalization. The individual downloads the apps, the games, the books, the magazines... and the ‘staff recommended’ aspect to Jetstar’s on-board iPads makes the exciting device seem almost sterile and boring. Additionally, if you’re the type who’d rent an iPad for the duration of a flight, wouldn’t you have already bought an iPad for the duration of your life? I don’t know whether this is really going to take off - or whether any other airlines will follow suit. Hotels have been offering iPads for a while now, and you can see where Jetstar have got their idea from. No way was it divine inspiration. Whether or not their ‘iPad in the Air’ plan will work as well though remains to be seen. In the meantime, if you are travelling with Jetstar and happen to rent an iPad, don’t forget to play Flight Control HD while in the air - it might make you empathize with those red and yellow planes a little bit more! [via NextWeb]

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