Recent attention has been paid to airlines launching wi-fi initiatives for domestic flights, with Airtran being the first to offer Internet service on all of its flights by this summer. Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are also entering the fray, but with the costs of necessary technical upgrades to the airplanes being passed on directly to the passengers, we’re wondering if this is going to fly with the general public.

According to one source, it costs $100,000 per plane to offer the wi-fi service and then passengers will be charged $9.95 for shorter flights or $12.95 for longer distances. While the executives quoted are spot-on in saying that this is something passengers will expect on all flights a few years from now, in 2009 are travelers, whether business or leisure, willing to pony up the cash? The days of hotels charging exorbitant fees for Internet service have been replaced with complimentary in room wi-fi hook ups. And as the price of technology goes down and many people subscribe high speed internet for as little as $30 per month, are they willing to pay such a premium to get online? Business travelers may be interested in sending and receiving emails, though the friendly skies is one of the few spaces they can unplug. And leisure travelers may want to update facebook, read the news, and of course check for the latest update from the I Open Lab blog, but on top of luggage fees, beverage fees, and fees connected to anything else the airlines can think of, will passengers want to spend even more on getting from A to B. Sure, life is about the journey, but for those excited about the destination, they may not want to spend so much on getting there.

There’s also the seemingly arbitrary price break for PDA’s and smartphones, which can access inflight wi-fi for $7.95. The price break is appreciated, but do these devices use less “Internet” than laptops? We’re sure that Internet service will be a part of all flights in the next few years, and eventually the costs will go down but perhaps the executives could consider some new options in pricing or the overall offering. What if the price was on a sliding scale based on how many people use it? If an entire plane is logged on, do they all need to pay the hefty fee, or should there be a break? Or perhaps if you just want to sign on to check for urgent emails, or you absolutely have to post the picture of your neighbor asleep on your shoulder to facebook, you can log on for a smaller increment of time and pay a smaller price accordingly. And it might be interesting to think about the purpose of wi-fi connectivity in the first place. Wi-fi is great for people on-the-go with mobile office lifestyles, but when you’re on a plane as a passenger you aren’t doing much moving. So what about getting rid of those phones that come on the back of many seats and offering USB cords to connect to a modem? These are just some thoughts and they may not be feasible, but in our opinion, neither is charging so much for a technology that while vital to our lives, is getting cheaper and cheaper and eventually will be free when we’re on solid ground.

Previously we encouraged you to make wishes.  This could be anything you want to be doing better, more of, or maybe even at all.  For those of you who may be an unsure entrepreneur, this could involve something that you’re afraid of that we wanted you to put into the form of a wish.  Before we tackle these wishes, there’s still some work to do.  

When you’re trying to solve any challenge, it’s important to clearly know what that challenge is.  For example, perhaps you’ve come across situations where you’ve been asked for answers to questions that aren’t clear.  Maybe a boss has asked for something without being clear about what it is, or a coworker needs something from you, but they don’t know what that is themself.  In cases like this, it’s nearly impossible to give the right answers because no one has asked the right questions.  

So before ideating, let’s look at some Idea-Do’s…these are tips to keep in mind whenever you’re making lists. We say making lists because while brainstorming is called many things, what you’re really doing is coming up with great lists.  Once you have a great list, you can make the right choices.  And lists aren’t just for answers, they’re for questions too.  

The first Idea-Do is to “Say No to No.”  Anytime you’re coming up with a list of ideas, whether they’re fears, wishes, questions or answers, you don’t want to say no to anything that comes to mind.  All ideas are valuable, but please don’t confuse that with the polite saying that all ideas are good ideas.  Some ideas are actually quite bad. But all ideas are valuable because even the worst idea in the world might inspire you to think of a really great idea.  Also, if you’re constantly stopping yourself and judging each idea that comes up, you may lose momentum and instead of coming up with dozens of ideas to pick from, you may struggle just to get a handful of ideas down on paper.  So just say no, to no, and with that in mind look at your wishes again and come up with ten more.  It might sound hard, but it’s possible, and you might just be surprised with what you think of next.  

Coming up…more Idea-Do’s.  To discuss any wishes, feel free to leave comments or contact us at paul@iopenlab.com.

As you head into this weekend, whether for some much needed sun and fun, a few more days of rain, or just some “you” time, we wanted to share some news and insights on exciting developments and trends. And in the classical brainstorming tradition of borrowing ideas, instead of coming up with a list of insights, we found a great newsletter did it for us!

Trendwatching.com just released their May 2009 newsletter, reviewing 15 of its top consumer trends and businesses that are tapping into them. Some of the ideas are particularly exciting…like a few that might just breathe life into newspapers and magazines. Mine is a new initiative that allows readers to create a magazine based on content from various publications, including Time, Sports Illustrated, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Money, InStyle, Golf, and Travel + Leisure. The Local is an aggregation of local news that the New York Times is offering for specific neighborhoods and areas. As we become a global community, is the answer for newspapers and magazines to become hyperlocal?

Take a look at all the ideas presented here and maybe there’s a niche with your name on it. We’re particularly excited about Baker Tweet, which allows bakers to use Twitter for alerting tech savvy customers when a fresh batch of warm bread, cookies, and treats are available. Now that’s a tech trend we can sink our teeth into!

An article in today’s New York Times reviews the latest hope for saving newspapers and magazines…an over-sized, unruly, black and white electronic reading tablet. Oh, and it’s also slow. Needless to say we’re somewhat dubious that this device will become the ailing publishing industry’s savior. As always, we look for the best in ideas, and portable electronic devices that are capable of displaying magazine and newspaper content are clearly the way of the future. However this device, by Plastic Logic, seems confined both by limitations of newspapers and magazines as well as available technology.

While the product is closer in size to newspapers and magazines than other readers out there is it the right size for today’s and tomorrow’s consumers? We’re concerned for a few reasons. First, how many devices are we going to carry around with us, especially when they offer similar features to users? Between blackberrys, PDAs and iPhones, we can access the web, read news, take pictures, listen to music, oh, and talk on the phone. Many can also be used as e-readers, muscling into Amazon’s Kindle’s and other readers’ territories. Is there any room or need in the market for plus-sized readers? Also, if you can’t easily put it in your pocket and even have to carry around a special bag for it we think it’s just too large. You can fold newspapers and magazines, and hey, if you need to you can toss them. You probably won’t want to toss the readers, at least not while we’re still in a recession.

It may be difficult to travel with the readers, but it also doesn’t seem likely people will read them at home or in the office. The technology is only capable of giving readers a black and white image, with no video or audio. When you have access to computers at home and in the office offering multimedia experiences, why would you turn to the reader? In the Times article, one executive is quoted as saying if the devices had come out five years ago there would probably be more excitement. Which makes us wonder if this is just like someone introducing a really really great VHS player.

So what should magazines and newspapers try to offer with a digital reading device? It needs to leverage the modern consumer lifestyle mixed with the equity of the newspaper/magazine experience. If consumers like “flipping through” magazines, maybe the devices can consist of two or four folds, allowing people to flip the page, instead of just scrolling down. And perhaps they can select a random function, allowing stories and features to show up in different orders, just like flipping through an actual magazine. Of course multimedia options, which aren’t available, would be great drivers of adoption. This could let a user listen to the headlines and full articles of favorite sections or key topics of interest while driving or riding to work.

Finally, magazines and newspapers should not forget about the badge value they offer readers. People give off a message when they’re reading The Financial Times versus The New York Post, and The New Yorker versus King…and this is something to leverage further rather than give up to a beige blank electronic reader.

These are just a few ideas, and clearly the publishing industry is putting a lot of time and effort into providing something new for readers. We just hope they catch up before the next headline is the shuttering of another big name paper or magazine.

In case you hadn’t heard, at the I Open Lab, we believe in making breakthroughs happen. However a lot of voices out there are using the term “the accidental innovator”…which to many means the lucky person who stumbled upon a new discovery that changes their life and maybe even an entire industry. From the discovery of penicillin to the invention of photography, classic examples exist of ‘accidental’ discoveries and the media has latched onto these tales and pundits have even proclaimed that accidents are the best way to develop new ideas.

Well, why? Is it because “creativity” is this confusing term and many of us don’t believe we have the skills to come up with new ideas? Is it because we feel better when we think that people are just “lucky” when they bump into innovation? One theory we have is that people aren’t taught that they are naturally innovative. EVERYONE can make connections and find new ideas around them. You’ve probably had a lot of these moments, when you see something new, come up with a product idea, or find a novel approach that leaves you thinking “why hasn’t someone thought of this?”

These accidental innovators are the ones who took those ideas and ran with them. While Louis Daguerre initially noticed with surprise when a plate developed into a photograph, it was only through detailed exploration of the phenomenon that he was able to isolate the chemical responsible for the development. He didn’t wait for another innovation or idea. He made breakthroughs happen.

You shouldn’t wait either. What ideas do you have? Now ask yourself, what can you do with them?