The Scandal of “Modern” Airplane Communications

It’s idiotic that the most important form of modern travel remains a prisoner of 1960s-era technology. Air travel needs a major technology upgrade. This article in the Guardian is just one of many observations emerging in the wake of the disappearance of a 777 traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. How can a modern aircraft just disappear, with nobody even knowing what it was doing for the last hour or so of its flight? Because it had less-sophisticated communications technology in some ways than in your smartphone.

(Image via Shutterstock)
(Image via Shutterstock)
(Image via Shutterstock)

It’s idiotic that the most important form of modern travel remains a prisoner of 1960s-era technology. Air travel needs a major technology upgrade. This article in the Guardian is just one of many observations emerging in the wake of the disappearance of a 777 traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. How can a modern aircraft just disappear, with nobody even knowing what it was doing for the last hour or so of its flight? Because it had less-sophisticated communications technology in some ways than in your smartphone. Another interesting take was posted by entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky on Facebook.

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