Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder died on October 5th, 2011. But we know him more for the innovative and inspiring life he lived. For most who think of Steve Jobs, they’ll think of Apple computer, an iPhone, an iPod or more recently, an iPad.
As I’ve reflected on the life of Steve Jobs, someone I admire a great deal, I thought of his impact on not only the technology industry but the aviation industry as well.
Here at Angle of Attack, we spend a lot of time interacting with technology. Not only is it important to create the videos with capable machines, but we also must be organized as a team that is spread all over the globe. That is no easy feat, but it’s not impossible with today’s technology.
Nick and I, the leaders at Angle of Attack, use Apple devices (Macs, iPhones and iPads) to operate Angle of Attack each and every day. We’ve come to appreciate how much these beautiful designed and functional devices allow us to turn our imagination and creativity into something of a reality. We simply wouldn’t be where we are today without the assistance of these products. Products that Steve Jobs himself, a visionary and ‘product minded’ CEO, guided and directed to be the most successful of their kind.
But, how has the entire aviation industry been affected, not just the tiny spec that is AOA? I have several examples worth pondering:
Garmin G3000
Recently Garmin, a company world renowned for their incredible line of GPS products, announced a new avionics suite that’ll change the aviation industry forever. In a follow up to their popular G1000, Garmin has announced the G3000.
What sets this system apart from the G1000 is it’s touchscreen displays (at 1:20 “just like an iPhone”). These displays house the entire brains of the aircraft, allowing you to manage virtually every aspect of your flight. Better yet, the system is so intuitive, claims Garmin, that pilots need little training beyond basic familiarization to access all the features and manage the flight.
Does that sound familiar at all? I think Steve would think so. At the time they were released, the iPod and iPhone were so revolutionary that they were widely adopted at an unprecedented rate. People refer to portable music as on an iPod, or iPhone.
Through this quick adoption rate of these products, aviators young and old were getting used to a new type of technology: simplistic touch screen navigation through complex programs.
If Garmin was to simply push out a touchscreen system like this 10 years ago, back when GPS was coming online as a mainstream solution, they would have been laughed at. You’d then see the executives scrambling to stop the falling stock price.
Instead, Garmin can now cater to an audience that already knows how to use their device in the cockpit because they use one every day to call friends and family, or listen to music, or play Angry Birds.
Yes, the innovative thinking and timely release of Steve Job’s lead iPhone, iPod and iPad projects changed the entire world interacts with technology and paved the way for something as revolutionary and extraordinary as the Garmin G3000.
Replacement of Paper Charts
When I first became an instrument pilot and subscribed to Jeppesen’s Paper Chart service, I was overwhelmed with the amount of updates I’d have to do EVERY week. We’re talking an hour a week in updating the charts, used for instrument approaches and other navigation familiarization purposes. It’s essential to update, of course, as out of date information can prove dangerous when you’re 200 feet above the ground and off course on an ILS. Not pretty!
I was overjoyed when I heard the news that Jeppesen released an app for the iPad, when the iPad already been out over a year. This means that there would no longer be any paper chart updates (green thinking?), wasted hours of updating charts you may or may not use, and it saves on weight in the aircraft, very precious to prop-heads.
One device, automatically updated, compact, light weight, and easy to use. Sign me up!
Although this isn’t the first time charts had been released on a mobile device, as I had previously had charts on a windows based tablet that ran XP, it was certainly the first time the whole process actually made sense.
You see, the core values that Steve Jobs injected into Apple Inc since day one were now present in aviation.
Here you have a device that unlike it’s PC tablet counterpart was extremely easy to operate, had incredible battery life, a bright enough display, the perfect amount of screen real estate, and the software itself is easily updated and even more important, easy to manage.
It took a while, but now airlines themselves, with an endorsement from the FAA and other government agencies around the world, are replacing all of their paper charts. Alaska Airlines (woot, woot, my home state!) was the first to adopt iPads as to replace paper charts, and now other airlines are following. Even some of the larger legacy airlines like Delta and United are putting forth major initiatives to replace paper charts with all their flight crews.
Although Boeing, Airbus and other manufacturers have built their own EFBs (electronic flight bags) into their aircraft, which have the charts as well, they can’t be widely adopted for ALL aircraft like the iPad can, as EFBs are generally on new aircraft only (the last 10 or so years). Costing mere pennies to the dollar compared to these pricy EFBs, you’re about to see that the iPad becomes not only a staple of efficiency on airliners around the world, but also on an incredible number of general aviation and corporate cockpits as well.
The iPads impact on the aviation industry in this category of replacing paper charts cannot be disputed. Tablets had been around before, but again, the timely release of Apple’s iPad, partnered with a fast adoption rate, ease of use, and more contributed to this becoming a reality.
Flight Planning
For those of you who have followed Aviator90 and AviatorPro here at Angle of Attack, you’ve learned that I am not a fan of long form, old school flight planning. That is sitting down with a ‘wizz wheel’, pencil with a MASSIVE eraser (seriously, you’ll need that eraser) and a sheet of flight plans. Oh, and don’t forget the charts you’ll need, all the figures for your aircraft, and more.
But now with a number of apps developed by reputable and innovative companies, apps that in all fairness go on both Apple and Android devices (but not always), you’ll see that those days of longform flight plans are over.
If you’re still doing longform flight plans, even if you’re in school, you need to stop. Those days are behind us. Seriously. The software that powers this ability to do away with longform and manual flight plans is not seceptible to the same kind of mistakes you are, and it gives you deeper and more meaningful situational awareness. It wraps your weather, flight planning, charts, AFD, notes, and so much more into one easily accessed space.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at ForeFlight, a one-stop-shop app for all things flight planning.
The iPad is by far the best device to do this on. Again, a digital baby of Steve Jobs.
A-Weather-ness
You’re on the ramp and there is a storm looming that you didn’t see three hours earlier in the forecast you got at home during flight planning. Of course, we all have a cell phone these days. It’d be very easy to call up Flight Service, but why not LOOK at what is going on?
Fear not. Bust out your iPhone or iPad (the first of their kind to do these sort of things) and look at the echoes (radar data) on official weather sites, or through an app. Easy as that.
Now you have a visual representation right at your fingertips in the critical moments that could delay your flight. Or you could ignore the fact that this amazing technology is literally at your fingertips, or COULD be, and just go fly into the unknown.
Your choice, but what you have here is the opportunity for last minute essential information that affects the safety of your flight.
That is powerful!
Bluetooth Headsets
Now, bluetooth was not invented by Mr. Jobs. But the wide adoption of iPhones by pilots was very much something he was a part of. How does that effect pilots?
There are a few headsets today that have the capability of doing bluetooth sync to a phone, so you can literally make calls with your aviation headset. A few of these headsets are the LightSpeed Zulu.2 and the Bose A20, both GREAT headsets.
Say you’re on the ramp at an uncontrolled airport and you are in IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) and you need to get a clearance from ATC before you takeoff. You can get such a clearance over the phone by the controlling facility. You can do this a few ways. You can try and get it before you start up the aircraft, or you can do it while you’re already sitting there ready to go.
Doing it before you start the aircraft (a non-bluetooth) you run the risk of rushing your preflight and missing something on your departure (ATC can say, “Be off in 10 minutes”). Do it after all the preflight and warmup is done, when you don’t have to scream into the phone because of the engine noise, and you can take all the time you want to make sure everything is setup correctly.
Obviously the advantage is to be able to do it while having already gone through your preflight and pre-departure preparations. Bluetooth headsets are great for this! And, the bluetooth on your iPhone will connect to those devices.
*disclaimer- you can do this with almost any smartphone these days.*
Concluding Thoughts
Steve has created a lot of devices, yes, but we could miss the most important lesson here if we don’t look deeper. Steve Jobs challenged the status quo, released the right things at the right time, spent an incredible amount of time making sure the experience of using the device was easy and enjoyable, and strived to create beautifully designed machines.
He also taught us that less is sometimes more, and we don’t need all the features to function.
Steve Jobs will be remembered long after his devices, released under his leadership, disappear. He won’t be remembered for the iPhone or the iPod or the iPad; he’ll be remembered for thinking differently, and pushing the world to higher heights with his innovative mind.
Steve, you will be missed. Thank you for all you have done, directly or indirectly, for aviation. And thank you for the great tools that allow Angle of Attack to train our passionate trainees more effectively.
Throttle On, Steve.
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