Lessee, I think airline pilots are like firefighters. I'm fine with these people being bored, as the alternative is usually not a "good thing"... When they're, umm, "excited", it's usually a bad day.
Reminds me of the old joke about the cockpit crew of the future: a dog and a pilot. The pilot is there to feed the dog, and the dog there to bite the pilot if he tries to touch anything.
I'd say let them have laptops, but install software on the laptops that will alert or lock the laptop when ever any issue (something is wrong, or the destination is approaching).. I'd say in most cases the plane would know when something is up.
Not only is everything automated and nothing interesting happens, but when they actually do anything, it's all listed out step-by-step in the manual.
I fly small airplanes and I have no desire at all to fly commercial jets. I used to say they were just glorified bus drivers, but bus drivers have a more fulfilling job than most pilots.
