But so far only a third of American households have Wi-Fi, reckons ABI Research.

ECONOMIST: The iPad is a success, but other tablets may not be

Both men are five shots behind Mickelson on 12-under par, with Argentina's Angel Cabrera, Charlie Wi from Korea and American Brian Gay all one shot further back on 11-under.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

As for the possibility of passengers offending their seat-mates by surfing for inappropriate content, Blumenstein said nine months of Wi-Fi availability on American yielded no such incidents.

CNN: Looking for a Wi-Fi hot spot? Try 10,000 feet up

Michael Small, the chief executive of Aircell, which provides wi-fi to 10 large North American airlines, says his company is considering developing a simulated text messaging application that would work in-flight.

FORBES: Text Messaging Could Come To Planes And Other In-Flight Wi-Fi News

And indeed many nomads are frequent flyers, for example, which is why airlines such as JetBlue, American Airlines and Continental Airlines are now introducing in-flight Wi-Fi.

ECONOMIST: Nomads at last

The data comes from Aircell, an Illinois-based broadband provider that provides a wi-fi service called Gogo to Air Canada, AirTran, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways and Virgin America.

FORBES: Top 10 Airports For In-Flight Wi-Fi