Kindle use on aircraft
 

No opinion from me, just wanting to use my kindle for the majority of the flight from Melb to Sydney (Qantas ask for gadgets to be turned off at TOD).

Tests Cast Doubt on F.A.A. Restrictions on Kindle and iPad - NYTimes.com

No problems as long as you turn it off when you are told to. It's also irrelevant what the FAA say as you are flying under Aussie rules and its up to the airline and your local authority how they are interpreted.
But as said at the beginning, you won't get into trouble if you do as the CC ask you.

I was actually going to post about this subject as I have just flown 2 legs on EZY with a new kindle. It doesnt actually turn off - it just goes to a screensaver or a menu page.
What can you do with it (or have I simply missed the on off button)

The Kindle's "electronic ink" does not need to be refreshed electrically, once it is on the screen. Therefore, when it is turned off, the last page or picture loaded will remain. Turning it Off disables the radio and the buttons.

Also, if you slide and hold the power switch for several seconds (10?) it will go to a white screen and completely shut down. Just don't hold it too long or it will reboot instead :).

Found the switch at the bottom of the Kindle (new type apparently).
Phew - thought I was going mad

Turning off devices during takeoff and landing is not so much due to any electromagnetic interference (in which case they would be banned at all times) as to ensure pax are not immersed in them during the safety briefing or stages of flight where you might need a sudden Brace or similar. Having them switched off for this purpose thus forms part of the Cabin Secure approach procedure, hence the TOD routine.

Anyone driving their car in cities will understand an increasing hazard is the significant percentage of the population who cannot do two things at once, and who now walk along the street completely immersed in their Iphone, Walkman, or whatever, and step straight into the road while still looking down at their mini keyboard. You don't want to have this sort of non-response if there's a sudden call for Brace due to a runway overrun on touchdown. In fact you don't want this person between you and the emergency exit at all.

I wish the same approach was applied to those who read newspapers or conduct loud conversations during the safety briefing.

No issue with safety briefing & take-off, my slight bother is Qantas calling for all devices to be turned off at top of descent. Meaning most times into Sydney 30-40 minutes before wheels down.

Virgin and Jetstar leave the call for gadgets off much later.

That said, argument about immersive engagement is compromised by most carriers allowing in flight enertainment systems to run until arrival at gate. All I'm doing is trying to read an ebook!

The problem is here is not the kindle but the vast array of appliances people bring onboard.
As you know the critical phases are t/o and landing therefore crew prepare the cabin for such critical phases.
Therefore more attention is needed so the less you do the more you are ready for an eventuality.
The worst offenders are the music systems. People who listen to them don't hear the safety announcements and we have to ask them one by one to fasten their seat belts put their seats upright, latch their tables.....
The general concensus is to make the rule as simple as possible and therefore all electronic equipments must be switch off. We can't enter into a discussion about what an electronic equipment can or can't do.
No pax are more and more clever and decide they know better and try to recreate a rule which suit them personaly. They forget they are with up to 500 other people onboard. We can't have a rule per pax.

Fly Virgin or Jetstar then.. Problem solved

And that may be true the moment airlines start banning paper magazines and books. Next argument please.

Just found a link to a report by the CAA about the use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) and the interference they could cause:

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP756.PDF

I will admit I haven't read it all yet (busy time at university and then even busier time in the pub!), but it does seem to offer a reasonable explanation as to why airlines follow the procedures other members have talked about.

Important....probably. Inevitable (well one is if the other has been accomplished successfully !!)....yes. Critical.....an over statement, methinks!!!

Something about horses and water springs to mind.....

Planemike