Qantas offers free iPads for all passengers, saves fuel in the process – Matthrew Humphries via Geek.com ⇢

Matthrew Humphries via Geek.com

Qantas is one of the first airlines to offer all passengers a free iPad for use during domestic flights aboard its fleet of B767 aircraft. Each iPad will allow access to the QStreaming service, which has over 200 hours of entertainment to watch. There’s also going to be in-flight Wi-Fi for those who want to surf the web and check their email.

The main reason for the free iPad offer for all passengers is competition, with Qantas wanting to attract customers away from rival Virgin Australia. But there is a massive weight saving, too.

A typical in-flight entertainment system installed in the back of every seat can weigh upwards of 2,000kg. Rip that out and replace it with hundreds of 652 gram iPads connected via WiFi, and you get a huge weight saving, even if you include the required system to hook them into the QStreaming service.

Doing a quick calculation, 375 new iPads (maximum amount of passengers a B767 can carry) weigh 244kg — much less than the 2,000kg permanently-installed alternative. For one flight that weight saving may make a small dent in fuel costs, but added up over multiple years of flights it soon becomes clear the switch is worth it.

This is going to soon be the norm.

21 July 2012 58
quantasipadinflight entertainment

Notes

  1. lostmemoria reblogged this from imagineblog
  2. town3country reblogged this from emergentfutures
  3. earriagada reblogged this from futuristgerd and added:
    Incluso en turista, bien Quantas, ahora es potente, será habitual y no diferenciador pronto
  4. meankarma reblogged this from futuristgerd
  5. alex-reynolds reblogged this from imagineblog
  6. greenfuturist reblogged this from stoweboyd
  7. complexitea reblogged this from futuristgerd
  8. futuristgerd reblogged this from stoweboyd and added:
    Gerd says: agreed - and not just with iPads:)
  9. inuyasha420 reblogged this from emergentfutures
  10. evolar reblogged this from imagineblog
  11. sunofthesleepless reblogged this from emergentfutures
  12. emogentcorp reblogged this from emergentfutures
  13. sockparade reblogged this from emergentfutures and added:
    Interesting idea. I wonder if the iPad can withstand the wear and tear… And how long before someone tries to steal one?
  14. imagineblog reblogged this from emergentfutures and added:
    an intersting math example, but it makes totally sense, and an Ipad will be much more comfortable to work on than these...
  15. thecollegesocialpath reblogged this from emergentfutures
  16. iamkenney reblogged this from emergentfutures and added:
    Hmph
  17. kilroyinvictus reblogged this from emergentfutures and added:
    Interesting.
  18. dbloom reblogged this from emergentfutures and added:
    Love this. They could also just make available a Qantas app for those already bringing their own iPad. That would give...
  19. pseudobabbler reblogged this from emergentfutures
  20. emergentfutures reblogged this from stoweboyd
  21. legaltwo reblogged this from stoweboyd
  22. sterling-bosch reblogged this from stoweboyd

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