Randy's Journal: Archives
10 August 2005
Blogging the stratosphere
I would not be true to my blogging self if I went too long without a tip of the hat to the folks at Connexion by Boeing. Last month Connexion hosted bloggers and reporters for a demonstration of high-speed in-flight Internet technology.
From what I've read, the demo flight on July 19 was a success with bloggers. It took place on a Boeing 737-400 known as "Connexion One." This custom-outfitted airplane has an onboard server and router. The exterior has antennas for real-time satellite transmission and reception.
Connexion One soars past the Seattle Space Needle, with Lake Union just beyond, and the Cascade Mountains on the horizon.
The result is the ability for broadband communication while flying. When Boeing first launched Connexion One, some called it a flying laboratory. Last month, the lab subjects were bloggers.
We flew them from Boeing Field in Seattle all the way to Walla Walla, Washington. Not a huge distance, but far enough for the bloggers and journalists to realize they'd traveled to a new world. Bloggers were able to log on and post to their blogs from 30,000 feet!
Some examples are here and here. Along with the posts, the bloggers took some pretty cool photos during the flight and uploaded those to the Web as well.
The best quote I saw came from a blogger named Molly. "I'm blogging from the sky!" she posted to her site. "The world, my dear readers, is changing. It's the most exciting time to be alive."
Some airlines around the world are already featuring Connexion service on their flights. But as far as we know, this was the first airborne blogging summit.