That's Entertainment.

Having just spent an inordinate amount of time sitting in an aluminium canister, hurtling through the air at 850 KPH, with nothing to do but eat and drink, I feel justified in providing some insights into the world of entertainment at 35,000 feet (how come we still use feet in the sky?). The first inflight movie was shown in 1921 and I'm not sure much has changed since then, except the screens are now individual so you can see the entire movie, not just the top half over someone's head in the seat in front. More movies, more music, more TV shows and the list goes on to try and cater for 500 individuals the airline so desperately needs to keep seated.

The "more" is what airlines aim for and this is also the greatest challenge they have, as the ability to match what is available to people, either end of a flight, from the Internet is unassailable. People have become so used to their own technology providing entertainment, information and connection, that to step onto a plane is to step back in time. A good book, now no longer carried in paper, may be the only recipe to counter average movies and TV on screens so small, even our grandparents had bigger ones.

With all of the technology people are carrying on board it seems a waste not to be able to use it. None of this technology can be found in the seat back and for airlines it's the opportunity to pare down the weight and not carry tons of entertainment technology, not have the maintenance headache and most of all not have complaining passengers when it inevitably breaks down mid flight. The only relevant channel to all passengers has always been the flight path map to watch how close they are to getting off and turning on their own technology.

Internet has been on board since 2004 when Boeing launched ConneXion with Lufthansa but with so few capable devices, compared to today, it flopped. Speed was also an issue in 2004 but with LTE speed capability available today, airlines are gearing up to replace their small screens with our small screens. Most analysts are saying 2015 will see all major airlines with Wifi capacity to have 500 people doing their own thing on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and whatever may be the flavour of the day. Airlines will save all that money they spend buying movies, save all that money on weight by removing screens and no doubt pass on the savings to their delighted passengers. My good friend, Qantas Captain Tony Weston, pointed out the complexities and the enormous costs involved, regarding satellites required to make this happen but unless the airline alliances get together to tackle the challenge, they will continue to be commoditised until someone else comes up with a solution. Ryan Air will no doubt be happy to pass on the charges.

It's time to move on from being limited to that best seller carry on, providing an alternative to on board technology failure and lack of content. In the end, it's the airline's job to get us from A to B safely, not to entertain us with yesterday's technology. After all, when was the last time you chose a carrier for the movies playing?