Skipness, I am sure it is a term or endearment really!
Strangely enough not long ago I was on an older 737 which had an adverse (though never really dangerous) reaction to a Mobile turned on whilst still within reception range of the ground.
Whilst it is unlikely that your £300 PDA is going to cause too much distress to the £130,000,000 21st Century Jet Liner, it is not up to you to decide which rules are obeyed and which are ignored.
The ANO is fairly clear that disregarding the reasonable request of the Commander is illegal. Whilst our Customers are not expected to know the Law's and Conventions pertaining to Air Travel inside and out (trust me I would never wish Air Law on anyone) I am still confused as to why people instantly start to become a little rebellious when they climb aboard. Perhaps those who are leaders on the ground are not up for being told what to do in the air?
And really are you that important that the email needs to be typed then and there - I mean if the flight had left on time you probably wouldn't have had the opportunity in the first place..... If war is about to break out if you don't get to send that little "sent from my Blackberry" message then why not use the onboard Sat phones.