Interstate 5 Express, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Well, that was basically incredible.
Last year, when Tyler and I went to the APEX Expo on a mission to suss out the in-flight entertainment (IFE) space, it was the absence of any discussion about the coming disruption of the space that convinced us we had to go for it and make MondoWindow a reality.
Fast forward to this year, and I was the guy starting that conversation. My presentation on the first day of the show turned out to be incendiary. The room was packed and, I’m told, there were audible gasps in the audience as I predicted that the days are numbered for both in-seat IFE systems and expensive Hollywood content.
I predicted that within five years we would start to see the permanent end of those two business models. (Here’s an MSNBC story in which I lay it out).
In-flight entertainment–and the airline sector more broadly–is a very conservative business, with conservative social norms and a cosy status quo. In other words, it’s nothing like the Internet sector. So my fact-filled presentation, basically material I have presented many times at various geo-web and other gatherings, turned out to be very provocative.
 I received two kinds of feedback.
Privately, several people from airlines and IFE systems providers came to me later and said “Thank you for saying that! I’ve been trying to make that case within my organization and nobody will listen to me!”
And more indirectly, I was later told by several people that more senior members of the IFE community considered me a bit of a crackpot. One person told me that “with predictions like that people don’t find you credible.”
What was really interesting, though, is that I found that our point of difference was around the disruptive timeline–not around the fact that it is poised to happen. Virtually everyone agrees that we won't see significant new installations of seatback systems ten years from now. The question is when is it going to fall off the cliff between now and then?
I don't know if my provocative prediction of 3 to 5 years will turn out to be correct, but I am certain that we will see a significant shrinkage in the seatback market in that timeframe, even though more aircraft are being ordered than ever. It's permanent structural change, so once it starts there will be no stopping it.
It might be hard to believe with the systems currently so ubiquitous, but it has happened again and again in other sectors, driven by the same two forces: consumer hardware and connectivity.
Certainly there are some in the sector who get it: this year, seemingly out of nowhere, six or seven major IFE systems providers were talking about their wireless IFE systems designed to stream IFE content into passengers’ own devices. Several of these are going to be flight tested and deployed within the year–the beginning of the end for embedded IFE.
And that’s great for MondoWindow.
We already know that the map is a key piece of any IFE system. It’s the only content that is relevant to absolutely everyone on the plane, and it’s the only content that is unique to the in-flight experience: you can watch TV or movies at home; you can only track your progress across the planet in flight.
So all of these new systems are going to need a map–a map that operates natively in web browsers, with no plugins or other hassles for users.
A map, in other words, like MondoWindow.
We received a ton of interest from the wireless IFE providers; we’ve spoken to every single credible player in the market. I can’t wait to tell you what’s next...
