Airline Passenger Code of Conduct, Part 1

Also, several airlines include restrictions regarding offensive clothing. Example: Southwest Airlines' Contract of Carriage states that the carrier "may refuse to transport or remove from the aircraft at any point any...persons whose...clothing is lewd, obscene, or patently offensive." Last year, in fact, a woman flying Southwest Airlines was forced off a flight for wearing a T-shirt that other passengers found objectionable.

The bottom line: Airlines don't spell out what you can't watch on your laptop or personal video device. But their rules regarding "offensive behavior" are general enough to employed on a case-by-case basis, to prevent one passenger from doing something that makes others uncomfortable.

"Because everyone has a different opinion of what constitutes 'offensive' material, typically in these types of situations, the crew would attempt to re-seat the passenger and/or let the customer know that what they are watching is offensive to those seated around them and ask them to turn it off," explains Julie King, a spokesperson for Continental Airlines.

Should there be a universal airline passenger code of conduct specifically stating that no one will be allowed to view pornographic or otherwise offensive material in flight? In theory, it sounds like a good idea. In practice, however, such a policy seems impractical at best. For starters, don't flight attendants have enough to do already, ensuring everyone's safety and comfort? Must they also be asked to tackle something that has perplexed even the Supreme Court--deciding what is and what isn't pornography?

Beau Sweetwater, a recently retired airline captain with 36 years of flying experience, weighed in on the matter in an e-mail. "Should we have a universal airline passenger code of conduct?" he asks. "For what? Does anyone (other than the most naive idealist) think that the 'problem' passengers will pay any attention to it? I can remember when people dressed nicely for travel, but I have actually thrown a Washington, DC passenger off a flight for refusing to wear shoes (a safety issue)."

Sweetwater continues: "The ticket you purchase gives you seat space on a flight in the cabin area for which you paid. If the passenger meets the criteria established during the financial exchange for that ticket and the flight departs, they have the right to go on that flight. The entire time on board the aircraft they must comply with the federal regulations governing passengers and crew on air carrier aircraft. The porn viewer does not appear to have been breaking any of those regulations."

Sweetwater offered an amusing suggestion for how he would have handled the situation. I'll share his solution, as well as those from other readers, next week.

In the meantime, a suggestion of my own: The next time you're in a crowded area--particularly a full airplane cabin--and you're watching a video in which nudity, sex, or violence is explicitly dramatized, do everyone a favor. Simply lower your laptop or DVD player screen until the scene is over.

Keep in mind that today's high-gloss, bright notebook screens are more easily viewed from an angle than traditional, matte-finish LCDs. If you don't want to lower your screen, consider using a laptop privacy filter. 3M makes some affordable antiglare filters (about $40 or more).

How to Deal With iPhone Envy: If nothing else, Apple's new iPhone is bound to generate discontent among those who are attracted to the new phone--but not enough to pay its $500 or $600 price tag. Not to worry: With the right software, your phone can take on at least some of the iPhone's cool character. Example: Apple's Visual Voicemail features lets you view a listing of voice-mail messages and choose which ones to listen to, instead of having to listen to each message, one at a time. But CallWave, a free service, and GotVoice, available free or $10 monthly (with no ads), both let you view a list of voice mail messages. Read " iPhone Versus Your Phone: Tips to Avoid iPhone Envy" for more tips.

Still Want That iPhone?: Though it's received glowing reviews, Apple's iPhone has its limitations, which are detailed in our article " 11 iPhone Gotchas." To name a few: you can't remove the battery; it only works on AT&T's sluggish EDGE data network; and though the iPhone apparently will connect with Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers, doing so requires some security compromises that may be unacceptable.

Top Blogs for Gadgets: In our " 100 Blogs We Love" roundup, we cited Engadget and Gizmodo as two favorites. Both are great resources for the latest buzz on portable electronics, including smart phones, media players, and other gadgets.

Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it. However, I regret that I'm unable to respond to tech-support questions, due to the volume of e-mail I receive.