We’ve carried a few stories on how airlines are using iPads to replace heavy flight manuals and save a bunch of fuel. Now from Australia comes a story about Qantas saving considerably more weight by issuing relatively low-weight iPads as its in-flight entertainment system. (Competitor airline Virgin Australia has already been doing something similar with the Galaxy Tab.) This allows it to remove the old traditional in-flight entertainment system which could weigh as much as two tons.

Qantas’s iPad program will let passengers access “more than 200 hours of entertainment programs” for streaming while Virgin will be providing on-board wi-fi access. The article doesn’t mention e-books or e-reading, seeming to concentrate on strictly video entertainment. Hopefully the system will have some reading options, too. Certainly these tablets support the idea of reading better than having screens built into the seat in front of you.

1 COMMENT

  1. Thank you!I knew there was a way to be able to read an iTunes-purchased book on my desktop as well as on my iPhone. However, I’m a heavy duty Internet user and web deingse and it still took me more than an hour to come up with your link. At some point I will work this into my blog.Again, I thank you.

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