Web isolation? It's all the rage
By Scot Petersen, PC Week
September 22, 1999 9:00 PM PT
At a party recently, the topic among a few of us turned to airline travel. I
mentioned the increasing number of incidents of violent passenger behavior in the
not-so-friendly skies—flight crews being attacked and so on. I had read a story about
the disturbing trend on Salon.com (www.salon.com/travel/diary/
hest/1999/09/07/rage/index.html). We all suggested theories to explain the behavior.
The most provocative: "It's the Internet."
I've heard the Internet blamed for a lot of things, but never for sky rage. The
theo rist, who works in the technology business and who's no
Luddite, explained that the
association wasn't a direct one—for instance, the lack of a Web connection enraging a
flyer who's unable to flame someone over e-mail, so he flames his fellow passengers.
Rather, my friend reasoned, our disconnected, remote access world, in which the
Web plays a primary role, doesn't allow for much human contact. The Internet has made us
all strangers (and more strange) to one another, and the barriers that would normally
inhibit violent behavior on a crowded airplane are just not there.
Certainly there is some direct cause-and-effect evidence against this theory,
namely the involvement of alcohol. Also, I'm sure anxiety due to overcrowding, delays and
fear of flying obviously have more to do with violent outbreaks than the Internet.
Nevertheless, the correlation between the Web and our relationships with people
has a ring of truth. For one thing, there's a Web site devoted to the subject:
www.skyrage.org. It's managed by the husband of a flight attendant who was badly injured
by a passenger. The site is a wealth of information about violent incidents and about how
you can protect yourself and your fellow passengers from each other.
It's ironic, isn't it? A site, part of the burgeoning "community" of
the Web, about how we can keep each other from attacking one another and endangering
lives.
Those darn humans
I don't mean to belittle skyrage.org. Something has to be done to treat the
symptoms of violent behavior of any kind. But we are still no closer to understanding why
the rates of passenger disturbances are increasing. Maybe it does have something to do
with the way our culture is changing late in the millennium—and that change is
influenced heavily by the presence of the Web.
We've all said it, especially me. We like the convenience the Web offers for
buying, procuring, scheduling—all without having to deal with another human being.
You can book a plane trip and rent your car online, and if it weren't for all those
passengers and flight attendants, the only person you'd have to deal with is the guy who
checks your driver's license on the way out of the rental lot. I'm sure they're working on
that.
Maybe the answer is to enable passengers to get on the Web, so they can feel
"grounded." I know there are movements afoot to get planes wired so laptops can
plug in. Could wireless jacks be far behind? I vote for banning laptops on planes instead.
They are a nuisance to other passengers, and most people who have their computers out seem
to be playing solitaire or Microsoft Golf.
Better yet, let's start taking advantage of all that neat groupware and
videoconferencing technology, which by now should have enabled us to cut down on our
airline travel. It'll be nice to meet you—online.
