Keeping Up: Chronicling the Rapid Pace of Change Online

Flight Navigation with the iPad

On a recent flight with a pilot friend of mine, I noticed yet another way the ipad has become more than just an entertainment and Facebook browsing device. My good friend Allan brought his iPad 2 and a leg strap along. After we got buckled in, the ipad went on the lap and up on the screen came a gps-enabled navigation application Foreflight.  After watching how he used it for a minute, it was readily apparent how perfectly fit flight charts are for the iPad.  Knowing how poor my battery life is on my iphone, I do have concerns about having a dead battery during flight but Allan didn't seem too concerned.

  

After learning a bit about how Allan uses it for private aviation, I did some research and discovered that American Airlines has adopted iPads for exactly the same use.  Watch the video and you will hear that by replacing paper navigation maps/reference materials, they believe fleet-wide that they can save a sizeable amount of fuel dollars (the typical bag of maps that pilots carry weighs approximately 25 pounds each).  Thankfully, the iPads will not come with wifi so your airline pilot won't be tempted to play Words with Friends.

 

 

Mobile Tablet at Chili's Restaurant Tables

This weekend, I had my first experience with a table-based mobile device at a chain restaurant. Different from the game systems many of us have seen, this one allowed you to order, check your bill, swipe and pay via credit card, and email yourself a receipt. My first thought was that it was more of a novelty than a useful device. By the time the meal was over, however, I realized why Chilis was investing in them. Our order was accurate, the server was able to focus on keeping us happy versus ferrying orders, bills, and credit cards back and forth and last but not least, we were in and out probably 20% faster than without the device. I found the experience more satisfying because I had more control over the order accuracy and most of all, not having to wait for the server to run credit cards. I did a quick search and found a slightly different and very valid perspective on the device - it is yet another distraction that sucks away from our ability to talk to one another and not act like mobile/electronic zombies (http://www.measurecp.com/2011/11/why-im-not-a-fan-of-chilis-tablet-kiosk/).

The technology was likely installed to increase the number of bills paid per table.  Similar to a taxi driver going 100 mph to maximize # of fares paid per hour or Southwest airlines' famous rapid turnarounds to keep planes flying (if they aren't flying, they aren't generating revenue), Chili's is smartly maximizing bills per table per hour. I am sure the technology REALLY comes in handy when there are multiple bills per table. Good use of technology Chili's. Now we can all get fatter quicker.