a buddy of mine over at http://techinflight.com posted this:
One of the features consistently mentioned as a feature on the next generation IFE systems is In-Seat Chat (also sometimes referred to as Seat-to-Seat Text Messaging
What I find most interesting about the idea of inflight chat, is similar to his, that anyone would even want it. We both agree that just up and chatting with someone may work on a limited basis, but what’s the chance that you have the patience to inquire of everyone on the plane if they want to chat? While rebuffing other inquiries at the same time!
So let’s do a chat room. This may be a better solution. People are already playing trivia in groups, why not wrap that concept around something like a movie? Sort of the Joost of sky. Let them discover each other over a built in shared commonality (even if they hate the movie) and give them the opportunity to move to seat-to-seat, or some kind of private chat room to continue talking. Business class lay-flat seats take on a whole new meaning now. :)
It seems like they’re trying too hard to shoehorn in some social networking by grabbing something that doesn’t feel like a social network, but has that cool IM/SMS vibe that all the kids are going nuts over. Make it part of something - lowering the barrier to entry so everyone may get into it, maintain the ability to retain some of your personal space on the plane - default opt-out, and above all make it fun.
Constantly telling seat 8B that I don’t want to chat doesn’t strike me as a feature I’d want to pay for…