I'm on an airplane between Seoul and San Francisco as I make my way home back from Shanghai. I'm not on any airplane... I'm on Singapore Airlines. I'm not in any seat... I'm in the "new business class" which boasts the largest business class seating pod in the world. (On my last trip on this flight I was in coach and walked by these pods with envy... now I'm thrilled to be sitting in one.)

Back to the point. Singapore airlines has a mini-computer at each seat along with a Sun's Star Office suite which includes a word processor, so I thought I'd try blogging on an airplane using the setup. By the way, all the seats including coach have this.

So, what's the experience like... This is actually do-able if you're on a mission to use it (like I am). The keypad is not so great, since it is actually a gaming handset with a keyboard thrown in the middle, so I can't hold it on both sides and instead I have to grab it from above and below. Actually, as I use it more I realize that I can hold it vertically and type... hmmm... interesting!

The keypad doesn't seem to have backward and forward arrows to navigate through the text, so I can only move the cursor with the mouse. That's a bit annoying.

The screens in Singapore Air are quite which is very good for the experience.

You transfer the file through a USB stick as a word file. I took a look on my laptop and it worked! (Phew!)

Unfortunately they freeze it every time they make announcement, which is understandable, but annoying when they make the same announcement in three languages.

I am saving often, as I'm afraid that they will suddenly turn off the entertainment system without too much warning. Actually, they will provide plenty of warning but I will keep typing as long as I can.

Overall, I'd say it works!

I'll do it again. It's nice to get into the paradigm of not having to bring your computing device with you and using the computing that's provided by your environment.

Just touched down... gotta run!

Note: System is still working through taxiing! Now that I landed, it's time to switch to my iPAQ to check email...

Written on Friday, April 11, 2007 on a Singapore Airlines flight between Seoul and San Francisco.  Left in its original, un-edited form.

Tags: blogging, airplane, Singapore Airlines, Sun StarOffice Suite, mobile blogging, HP

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