Those personal in-flight video screens may look cool, but they're also pretty expensive to install when you consider the cost of the system and the time to pull the airplane out of service to do the work. On top of that, some of these systems can be a pain to maintain. On a Boeing 747, that's more than 300 individual screens that can break, along with the infrastructure.
The introduction of internet on airplanes has changed the game.
In its current form, travelers with a smartphone or other internet-enabled device can log on at 30,000 feet and provide their own in-flight entertainment. As we all know, the internet can provide weeks, if not years, of material to help pass the time. But the internet itself isn't even necessary to provide entertainment.
Airlines could put a server on each airplane and then allow wireless access to all the content on it from the cabin. Gogo, the internet provider for most U.S. airlines, is working on this and should be testing it soon.
It could look exactly like the system you see in the back of the seat, but you provide the device. And it wouldn't require internet access, just a closed network on the airplane. All that's really needed is for the customer to have a device to access the network. For the airlines, this is a low-cost way to provide the same content to travelers that is provided today. And just as we see now, some would provide it for free while others might charge.
However, what we're seeing now is just the beginning of where this will go.
