Blogging from 35,000 feet above sea level. Flying 2.0 is here to stay.

Even the Wright brothers would have never dreamt of this - people sipping wine and communicating with the rest of world while flying at 35,000 feet above sea level across the American continent in the middle of a night. Virgin America made it a reality for me.

Even though it’s been about three years since Virgin launched its designer airlines in the US, I never got a chance to fly in one. I’m finally sitting in one right now flying to Boston from San Francisco and, you bet, I’m pretty impressed. The experience is only short of being spectacular. I’m amazed with the amount technology and design present in the cabin. From interesting 2D animated safety instructions (remember fight club?) to a sleek multi-purpose personal touch screen, there’s uniqueness screaming all around. This WiFi enabled (powered by gogo) PC friendly cabins make flying in other US airlines (except for JetBlue and the likes) feel like a ride into the past.

There’s nothing new about having WiFi in the cabin (I used it in Lufthansa five years ago). But it’s the speed and reliability of the service along with many functional features in the seat that awes me. One interesting feature I saw is a passenger-to-passenger chat feature on my touch screen. I question the usefulness of it unless you are with a big group or belong to the curious clan. I did manage to find a chat partner from seat 9D for a few minutes though.

We for sure are living in an era of exponential advancements. I continue to wonder what people 30 years from now would get excited about.