IP Communications and Beyond

I'm onboard my American Airlines flight heading down to Miami for the upcoming Internet Telephony show - with a day of much needed R&R before it starts - and I'm testing the new Gogo inflight wifi service for the first time.

At a cost of $12.95, I can surf the Web, send emails, and enjoy all the great apps I've loaded on my iPod Touch - a device that is quickly becoming my Internet appliance of choice - and which I'm using to write and post this blog entry. Typing is a bit slow on the Touch's miniscule keypad, but the cool factor outweighs any frustration at this point.

I was curious whether gogo blocked VoIP calls, and to my delight I discovered that the fring app worked like a charm, enabling me to access my Skype account to send text chats - and once I receive the new Apple earbuds I ordered with an integrated mic - make VoIP calls. Sweet!

So far, the wifi service is extremely stable and fast, and I wish gogo huge success. Inflight Internet has been a long time coming, and I for one am ecstatic that it has finally arrived.