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How Mobile Phones Work Behind the Scenes

Posted by timothy on from the they-all-suck-to-different-degrees dept.

adamengst writes "We seldom think about how our mobile phones actually work, but in this TidBITS article, Rich Mogull pulls back the covers and peels away the jargon to explain why text messages work when voice calls are dropped, why your battery lasts longer in some places than in others, why you're not allowed to use phones on airplanes, why you can be notified of a voicemail message when your phone never rang, and more."

3 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Shortlist of answers: by iamdrscience · · Score: 5, Funny
    The real answers:

    why text messages work when voice calls are dropped

    Text messages are magic.

    why your battery lasts longer in some places than in others

    Some places are magic.

    why you're not allowed to use phones on airplanes

    Pilots are afraid of magic.

    why you can be notified of a voicemail message when your phone never rang

    Voicemails are magic.

  2. How it Works for Me by sycodon · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. Dial number, tower recieves signal and discards number.
    2. Dial again, tower connects and routes call around the world before connecting to the called number.
    3. Tower waits for conversation to begin and injects random noise, removes every third word, and then disconnects.

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    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  3. Next on Slashdot. by SeNtM · · Score: 5, Funny


    Stay tuned to Slashdot for our next featured article, "The Mysterious Wheel."

    When we will discover:
    1. What is a wheel?
    2. Why does a wheel roll?
    3. What magic has created such a device?

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