I recently had the joyful experience of travelling on one of KLM's new Boeing 777 planes.
There are certain rituals you get used to when travelling long distances.... you find the plastic bag marked "not a toy for small children", open it, draw out the headset, spend a few minutes hunting for the headset socket, then sit back and listen to the music.
This time, the first parts of the ritual successfully completed, I encountered a problem: I couldn't find the earphone socket!
To make a long story short: I found it at last - inside the back of the armrest, next to where the seatbelt is attached.
There are two ways to get a plug into this socket - the more conventional one seems to be:
- Hold the plug in your right hand.
- Place your right elbow at the level of your knee.
- Twist your arm so that your lower arm is pointing straight back, and a little to the left.
- From that position, move your hand slightly up and away from the body, underneath the armrest, so that you can insert the plug (no peeking!) into the socket so conveniently placed at the back end of the armrest, an inch from your hip.
Now, KLM had obviously realized that this contribution to in-flight exercise wasn't going to endear them to all its customers - so a short extension cord (about 20 cm) had been attached next to the socket. But the installation instructions had left something to be desired.... the extension cord wasn't in fact plugged into the socket - it was looped back on itself, creating another puzzle that needed untangling.
Just to add insult to injury, I had to ask for a new headset in order to get sound in both ears.... twice. It's not a high quality device.
Sometimes I think that certain designers deserve cruel and unusual punishment. In this case, I was thinking that "those who design airplane seats..... should be condemned to travel in them".
One ray of light in an otherwise depressing experience: Their in-flight system DOES run Linux.
Postscript
A few weeks later, I made another trip on a similar plane, with the same kind of seat - this time with Northwest - and realized just what the designer had been thinking.
Northwest varies the ritual of the headphone - when you arrive at your seat, the headphone is already resting in the armrest compartment, plugged in for your use. And when you leave the plane, your headphone is not collected - you leave it, ready for the next passenger.
I'm not sure what they do for ear pad hygiene. But it's clear that the seat designers and the procedure designers had had a talk - just a pity that that the seat designers did not talk to enough procedure designers.
Oh well. I know how to find the earphone plug now.
