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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."

2 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Re:wrong audience, buddy by Curmudgeonlyoldbloke · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Whilst that may be a perfectly valid reason to you, the real reason is that the airlines just haven't figured out how to charge for it yet.

    They will soon:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2008/sep/25/ryanair.mobilephones

    which includes a classic quote from Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary:
    "If you want a quiet flight, use another airline."

  2. Re:Already slashdotted! by Volante3192 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And yet still cost more than an actual call...