It is my responsibility at work to start and programme the IFE on the 747/777/A330, and to try and fault-find and 'fix' it whenever it doesn't work as advertised.
It is one of the least enjoyable aspects of the job. I am technically minded, so it's not that. I am computer literate so it's not that either.
The problem lies in the fact that IFE systems are notoriously opinionated and unpredictably moody.
The manufacturers swear on everything they hold dear that their system will under NO circumstance ever do X Y or Z, yet all of us know for a fact that X Y and Z are regular occurrences.
And of course the fault can never be replicated on the ground and the dedicated mechs look at you as if you're some sort of total moron.
Similarly, the manufacturers will wax lyrical about the reliability of the system, its stability and back-up.
While in reality, the systems crash for no good reason, behave weirdly when you least expect it, ignore whatever fault fixing procedure you let loose on it and will on principle do the exact opposite of what the manual says they will
The idea that an IFE system could be in any way at all connected to the cockpit systems causes me the deepest of anxieties.
Actually, more of a screaming panic!
