intraplanar

[jinian]

On the plane ride back from Boston, I was getting no time announcements of any kind, and I kept thinking we'd be there right away. (I'm still convinced that we went more slowly than usual from the lights of Mpl-StPl to landing in Seattle, and usually I'm taking off from the Twin Cities and still have to get up to speed.) If I'd realized how long it'd be, I probably would have gotten more books out of my second bag, but I didn't want to climb over the aisle-seat guy.

So there was crosswordage and snoozing and scribbling, and one of the things I was really wishing for was an in-plane text messaging system. My thought was of a MUSH, but IRC would really make more sense. It'd work -- it could all be hardwired between the people on the plane, so there wouldn't be any pesky outside transmission. I could have done a global, "wow, look at that!" the several times I saw cool things, and not worried about bothering people who didn't care. There could be channels set up for people who wanted to discuss topics, though airplane net-sex really ought not to count toward the mile-high club. It could even upload a Usenet spool before takeoff and download when the plane touched down. And if we had screens anyway, we could have the nifty display of where the plane is that was so satisfying to watch on the British Airways flight to England. And then I would have known what time it was.

So, my biased audience, shall I figure out how to submit a patent application?

Comments

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

I want to know more about the 'where the plane was' screen.

[fourgates.livejournal.com]

I believe that course-plotting map is a standard feature on 777s or 767s.
Jeff

[coyotegirl.livejournal.com]

I really really like this chat idea.

I end up talking to the strangers around me about 50% of the time, and it's usually pretty fascinating.

I'm not as keen on the Usenet thing, but then again, I haven't read Usenet regularly in years...

no idea on the patent road

[rubricity.livejournal.com]

But I just wanted to say that you are the most delightfully clever girl.

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

[thoughtless comment deleted]

[almeda.livejournal.com]

I like listening to the station on the radio in the armrest that's listening to the pilots, esp. when you pass over cities, 'cause they're talking to ATC about stuff. :->

[fourgates.livejournal.com]

I love the idea! If it caught on I'm sure you'd be the parent of some new initialisms -- WLAT, etc.

I've done a couple of patent applications and could give you some pointers and books if you want to pursue it. Some general guidelines: using a patent lawyer is expensive (~200-300/hr, $8K-$20K total). You can do it yourself, but it decreases the odds that you'll be properly protected and that the examiner will actually approve the application.

If you'd like to get a patent just for fun, you could get one of the no-contest (I can't remember the proper term) patents they issue in Australia. This alternate class of patent is issued automatically, but has a different coverage period, fee structure, and (I believe) different rules on who pays court costs if you lose when someone contests it. Someone recently patented the wheel this way.

The only concern I have re implementation is that you'll need some kind of text input method. I don't think existing systems have keyboards, so you might be stuck with T9 or something slower.

Oh, and I believe LiveJournal might qualify as public disclosure. In the U.S., you have one year after first public disclosure to file a patent. Outside the U.S. (Europe and Japan anyway), you have to file the patent application before first public disclosure.
Jeff