Twitter Gets Satellite Access

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Twitter Gets Satellite Access

Posted by timothy on Sunday February 12, 2012 @08:47PM from the how-to-monetize-per-country-filtering dept.

jimboh2k writes "Satellite operators Iridium and Thuraya have signed on to provide access for Twitter users outside of normal mobile coverage. The service acts like the SMS function already available on the social network, allowing users to tweet during emergencies."

10 of 67 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

obligatory relevant xkcd: by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-12 21:04 · Score: 5, Funny

http://xkcd.com/723/
@ISS by BlackPignouf · 2012-02-12 21:05 · Score: 4, Funny

@ISS, taking a dump.
1. Re:@ISS by subreality · 2012-02-12 21:58 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Meta-whoosh!
@sahara by arcite · 2012-02-12 21:11 · Score: 5, Funny

@sahara, flat tire, canteen empty, delirious, to follow mirage, please feed Rex.
Re:Okay. by Zorque · 2012-02-12 21:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

In many cases it's been a very useful tool for warning others about impending emergencies, or about letting the outside world know what's going on. It may not get you the help you need but it could save others from having to do the same.
@us_sub by SpaceCracker · 2012-02-12 21:58 · Score: 5, Funny

@us_sub, just launched icbm + nuclear warhead. more info on wikileaks.

--
sigo ergo sum
Actually a good match by subreality · 2012-02-12 22:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

I tried hard to be cynical about this, but really it's a pretty good match. Twitter's enforced lo-fi nature makes it a perfect format for a high cost per bit medium like satellite, but it's used in bulk enough to justify access plans with moderate usage instead of trying to milk corporate customers for $1/packet or something. Perhaps the constellation operators have finally found their market.
Bypassing censorship? by taiwanjohn · 2012-02-12 22:31 · Score: 4, Insightful

Will this allow people in $DICTATORSHIP to stay connected even when their government has blocked normal internet access?

--
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
REally? by Lumpy · 2012-02-12 23:21 · Score: 4, Funny

" allowing users to tweet during emergencies"
If your addiction is that bad, please get some help. during emergencies you need to be paying attention to your safety and the safety of others not tweeting "day 14 without any food, no idea where to go, Wish I had a GPS instead of this crap Iridium phone."

--
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Re:Okay. by pla · 2012-02-12 23:38 · Score: 5, Interesting

Yeah, that's the first thing I think about in an emergency. Logging on to twitter and posting some bullshit. How useful.

Well, I suppose that counts as the obvious symmetry to the jackasses who, watching someone burn to death in a wrecked car, will whip out their cell phones - Not for anything so mundane as calling for (never mind actually trying to) help, mind you, but to record it for YouTube.

We've become a society of narcissists and voyeurs. Welcome to the dawning of a new age.