In-flight Wi-Fi providers charge exorbitant rates for service by utilizing a network of satellites or ground-based towers to beam a terribly weak internet connection to your seat.

A closer look

In-flight Wi-Fi providers charge exorbitant rates for service by utilizing a network of satellites or ground-based towers to beam a terribly weak internet connection to your seat. You will happily pay twenty dollars just for the privilege of refreshing your email inbox at dial-up speeds while trapped in a metal tube thirty thousand feet above the earth. The service will inevitably cut out entirely the moment you try to send a crucial message, leaving you staring at a loading screen of pure frustration. It is a brilliant business model where telecommunication companies provide the worst possible product imaginable, knowing you will still buy it because the alternative is reading the sticky, germ-infested duty-free magazine tucked into the seatback pocket