Andy Jordan on a Plane–Instant Messaging! (Much, Much Worse Than Snakes!)

Ok, here is my personal nightmare: Having a stranger sitting next to me on an airplane chattering endlessly throughout a flight, when all I want to do is read, watch a movie or sleep.

Now, horror of horrors, there is a service on Virgin America where passengers can do seat-to-seat chatting. WSJ.com’s Tech Diary video blogger Andy Jordan tries it out and finds most people really don’t want to be bothered, although that does not seem to stop some from bothering anyway.

Also a problem: the touchscreens irk the people in front of the chatter, what with all the poking (which is icky enough on Facebook).

See for yourself: