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Is It Time To Commit To Ongoing Payphone Availability?
jenningsthecat writes "Public payphones seem headed the way of the dinosaur, as noted here on Slashdot 10 years ago, and again by the CBC earlier this year. Reasons typically cited for their demise are falling usage, (thanks to the ubiquitous cell phone), and rising maintenance costs. But during the recent disaster in NYC caused by Hurricane Sandy public payphones proved their worth, allowing people to stay in contact in spite of the widespread loss of both cellular service and the electricity required to charge mobile devices. In light of this news, at least one Canadian news outlet is questioning the wisdom of scrapping payphones. Should we in North America make sure that public pay phones will always be widely available? (After all, it's not as though they don't have additional value-added uses). And, should their continued existence be dependent on corporations whose primary duty is to their shareholders, rather than to the average citizen?"
This is one good reason why a landline (not VOIP) is still good to keep around if you can get it for less than $10 a month. A lot more reliable during diasters than your cellphone (towers down, your battery dead).
If the disaster is big enough then there will likely be a police officers or paramedics on every block anyway, which is what you'd want the phones to be used for anyway. We don't need emergency payphones for non-critical use, including people calling home to tell their relatives that they're ok.
It's time to both beef up the communications infrastructure to support reliable operation and to commit to helping your neighbors with access to things like a telephone, should you have one that works, during a major catastrophe.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
On a couple of occasions I've had car problems when on remote rural freeways in California, and been able to use the emergency phones that the state places within walking distance of pretty much every point along the freeway. Even if pay phones aren't commercially viable, having phones available for emergencies does make sense.
What about keeping them but enhancing their usability? For instance, combine them with other forms of information services - city info, etc. Or perhaps some corporate partnerships like movie rentals. The phone part would be separate to keep that available if someone else was searching for the latest Star Wars flick...
Twenda Learning: Educational Apps that Engage.
This is a common problem: emergency and safety systems are completely pointless 99% of the time... until you have an emergency, at which point they're indispensable. It's like the bail-out bag in the closet with the first-aid kit and other necessities for an emergency: for years you wonder why you keep it because you never use it, until that day you didn't see coming when the fire department knocks on the door saying the fire's jumped the line and you've got 15 minutes before it gets here (which has happened here twice since I moved here, so not a theoretical example). Myself, I'd keep pay phones around as one of those necessary emergency expenses, the kind of thing you know you've needed in the past and will need in the future but that you won't have time to get deployed if you wait until you do need it.
If the headline is a question, the answer is always "No".
I suspect it isn't payphones, per se, that need to be maintained, but rather, the reliability of the wireline network that needs to be maintained. We traded nearly 6-nines reliability of POTS for ubiquitous wireless communication. Good cell coverage is hard under normal circumstance, but in a disaster scenario, nearly impossible.
Maybe after a disaster, communications trucks need to be rolled in to provide service. More than just a COW (cell on wheels), it would provide WiFi and wireline service (for those without devices) as well as power to recharge devices.
Otherwise where would Superman change into his costume?
Finally, I don't have to lug this cell phone around!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSWIhBO7Jc4
If payphones are gone then how could someone make anonymous, untraceable calls (if need be)? Sure, they could trace it to that particular phone but by the time anyone gets there the caller will be long gone.
Instead of maintaining a system that is practically obsolete we should put the effort into making the newer system more robust.
How about building pico-cells into emergency vehicles with some sort of dedicated wireless backhaul? Figure out how to queue access to cell phones so that even if such a system can only handle 5-10 voice calls at once (due to backhaul bandwidth limits), anyone with a basic cell phone can virtually "wait in line" until it is their turn to talk.
It doesn't have to be limited to emergency vehicles, we could build stand-alone units too that could be battery powered and deployed fairly quickly.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Superman is finding it harder and harder to find a place to change.
Maybe portable cell towers (with recharging docks for the phones?) would be better. Or for that matter, a kiosk where a Red Cross worker lets people use a satellite phone for 3 minutes per turn. The problem with fixed emergency infrastructure like phone boxes is they may get wiped out, and they're sitting unused almost always.
Yes, because we are all descended from telephone sanitation engineers.
This really isn't so much a cell phone vs pay phone comparison, but rather a cell phone verses POTS. The simply fact is, cell phone infrastructure is far more vulnerable to natural disaster by their very nature. As such, consideration should be given to maintaining land lines in the area or your house. Pay phones are dinosaurs.
The only reason people turned to pay phones was because they were the primary land lines available for many.
Have the poor get ObamaPhones.
If you want to have public payphones, you go ahead and set up the network. You can't force companies to provide free access to public telephony.
If it's so important, do it...don't look to Verizon to do it for you.
Not only are we going to loose payphones, we are going to quickly loose universal service and probably land lines in many places. The carriers are fighting tooth and nails to be able to forget about all those decades of subsidies and only provide the most profitable services (wireless) and to shed everything else.
Phone companies used to be able to afford not making much on pay phones until their lucrative long distance business was cannibalized by Sprint, etc.
Competition Good, Monopoly Bad.
Okay, your cell phone phone is dead. Zombies have taken out the cell towers. It's an urban apocalypse. You're surrounded by evil, and low on gas. And there are no pay phones. How do you get in touch with the mad scientist 500 miles away to get the cure?
It's easy guys: Walk into a commercial building with power and ask to use the phone. In fact, many without power will still have a few POTS lines powered (read: Not digital); but you may have to hunt for them, so if you're trapped in an apparently "dead" building with zombies and cthulu beasts outside, patience and a flashlight will save the day. Just avoid the restrooms.
I know I'm being sarcastic here, but seriously guys -- if you're ever in a true emergency situation, stop and think. House flooded? No fresh water? Think about where fresh water might be -- stop panic'ing and really think. Ding! Toilet reservoir. People get all manner of stupid in a crisis because something they used to depend on suddenly isn't there. Guys, you've got millions of years of evolution that has taught you to be adaptable.. but not a lick of those years is going to do you any good until you calm down.
We don't need pay phones. We need to teach people to be self-reliant, instead of hiding under their desks. The government and emergency services may not always be there for you. Neither will any of your modern conveniences. But there is nothing you need to survive that can't be found within a few miles of wherever you are in an urban environment. Food. Shelter. Water. Medical supplies. And if someone's injured, know first aid! It's not rocket science; Take a course today. And keep a small bug-out bag in your car. Less than $100 and some planning ahead of time and you can not only survive just about any catastrophe but also help the people around you.
Everyone should be doing this. Don't rely on your fucking cell phone, or having access to any phone at all. Don't rely on the government. Rely on you. In an emergency, that's the only person you can rely on.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
The summary's ending statement reeks of heavy rhetoric and thus causes me to want to argue with it.
The question isn't "And, should their continued existence be dependent on corporations whose primary duty is to their shareholders, rather than to the average citizen?" But "Should companies be forced to loose money on a service that they are forced to provide?" or "Should payphones be run by the government ?"
Im not convinced... But since I don't live in a dense urban area I might not understand the value. Payphones in most areas including my own are already extinct, and it would be very expensive to put them back in (unless the wiring and infrastructure has been maintained for some reason). Payphones are simply not profitable anymore in most places, and its bad for companies to loose money.
I couldn't tell you where ANY pay phones around here are. Heck, where you do see a pay phone, it's usually in a neighborhood where you're likely to get mugged or shot if you tried to use it anyway.
It's time to commit to a wireless infrastructure that doesn't vanish in bad weather.
All execs and senior managers question the amount of money we spend on backups and anti-virus/malware .. and my guess they would change their opinion for a few minutes when a distaster struck .. until enough time has passed that memory goes away and profits become the incentive again.
It's time to both beef up the communications infrastructure to support reliable operation and to commit to helping your neighbors with access to things like a telephone, should you have one that works, during a major catastrophe.
*whiny spoiled brat voice* But that would cost MONEEEEEEEEEEEY!!! That'd mean we'd have to SPEND money, which means I wouldn't get as much of a bonus this quarteeeeeeeeer! I've got another yacht to buiiiiild! C'mooooooon!
C'mon people, get rid of the regulated payphones now, and during the next disaster, Free Market PayPhones (tm) will just pop up everywhere like daisies. (Of course it'll be $100 per minute call, but hey, that's what the Free Market is for)
Seriously, the National Guard should have a bunch of communications trucks that can form a mesh network after an event like this. They should be able to connect to regular cell phones, prioritizing 911 calls, then allowing some WiFi traffic to move out of a disaster zone.
Even so, a pay phone is still useful if your cellphone is lost or stolen. Perhaps we should bring back big blue police call boxes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardis
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
Is it time to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside?
"Should we hold onto because it's been around forever?" - Pay phones: The complaint is that they're too expensive to maintain, given that everyone uses cellphones. - Package-based cable TV: The complaint is that you get programming you don't care about, or are unable to pay for just the shows you want to watch. - Broadcast radio: Too much goddamn advertising, given the shitty "top 40s" playlists and often personality-less/PC personalities between commercial breaks.
I'm re-posting from the older thread linked above about NY's plans to use payphones as WiFi hotspots:
On a related note, have you ever wondered what that Police Public Call Box thing is that The Doctor uses to travel through space and time? I used to wonder too. It wasn't until I went to Edinburgh that I saw them and other objects that looked like them. I remember jumping out of my seat and saying "There's a Tardis!"
Well apparently they had a phone accessible from the outside that the public could use to call the cops in an emergency. Cops would have access to the inside where they could go in and hang their hat, hold a prisoner while help came, and effectively use it as a mini police station. Some of them remain and have been re-purposed for other uses like coffee shops or news stands. There were a lot of designs and didn't seem to standardize like the classic red phone box did.
Cities like Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool have updated the concept with "help points", little computerized kiosks that are under CCTV surveillance and have a direct line to the police. It'd be cool if they could introduce the modern functionality but contain it in the form of the old 1929 Mackenzie Trench design that was popularized by Doctor Who.
The moral of the story is that once infrastructure is taken out it's very hard to put back in. If you leave it in place, even when it stops being immediately useful, it can find a use later when some new trend (coffee shops) or new technology makes it useful again. When the old Police Boxes were going out of service, the WWW was a long way off and nobody could have foreseen their reincarnation as help points.
There's also the matter of heritage value. I remember when the K6 phone box was so ubiquitous in the UK that nobody would have considered them as a collector's item. In fact I remember, when the one beside our house had a rotary phone in it, that they were quite dingy inside and not well maintained. They were rusty and the glass was always dirty and smudged. The rectangular plastic and stainless steel ones that came later were a lot more pleasant to use, but they didn't have the same character. But the K6 still has its fans. If the inside were as comfortable as a modern design then I'm sure they could be adapted to a modern use as well.
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How else are we supposed to ensure that everybody has a quick way out of the Matrix should the need arise?
You must be a lawyer.
my mom spent the hurricane and flood in an ocean facing condo with a dumb phone. she's now going to get an iphone or Galaxy S3
the voice service was crap but the texting and data mostly stayed up even in the worst hit areas. texting i'm OK is good enough and there are lots of other features she will get
and payphones would have been useless as well since the water was high enough to destroy them
Cell phones are great, but having a payphone option definitely comes in handy. I was at a large public event (a St Patrick's Day thing) a while back and had had a bit too much to drink and got separated from the group I was with. Had no idea where I was at and for some reason (I'm guessing just tower overload) my cell phone wasn't working. I kept trying to dial out for another hour or so but the battery eventually died. It was around 3am in the morning and virtually everything was closed.
Long story short, I was able to eventually find a payphone, call a cab, and get back to the hotel. Cell phones are great, but it doesn't even take a natural disaster to run into a scenario when you really need something else to fall back on.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Just add an easement to your city's antenna tower permits that will allow people to put in ham radio repeaters with autopatches.
Individuals will pay for their own transceivers for free (as they have for about a century) and hams will move traffic that can be done simplex to other frequencies.
There are a dozen repeaters in reach of my commute to work. There are naturally in places that don't flood and hams generally have great battery backups connected to them. Further, they don't require the phone systems to work at all. I can reach any ham in the city with mine, no phone line involved.
Folks that are good at this may in fact be near you already:
http://www.qsl.net/races/links.html
And these folk can get you started:
http://www.arrl.org/home
Am I the only one that sees the demise of pay phones as a way for the Matrix to keep us trapped?
kelebek sohbet
sohbet odalar
The payphone thing is part of a much larger problem. Forty years ago, the entire U.S,. phone system (except for a few independent pockets) was owned by a single company. That company did a pretty good job of maintaining a robust, disaster-resistant communication infrastructure. But it also stifled competition and innovation.
In the deregulation-happy 80s, we got rid of that official monopoly. This has had many positive results (hard to imagine the modern Internet being built in such a restrictive environment) but also meant that nobody was responsible for making sure the system always works.
I've always been slightly curious as to how difficult it would actually be to equip all cellphones with the chips and antenna necessary to communicate with something like the Iridium satellite network.
Barring something truly apocalyptic, it's not like the satellites are going to go down.
I suspect it isn't payphones, per se, that need to be maintained
Payphones are getting vandalized more now then before.
Probably in part because they are not as busy, so there is more opportunity, and because the vandals have cell phones so they aren't screwing themselves over...
If you had a working cellphone, you could instead have a microcell and emergency powerable charging ports. No need to for infrastructure to support collecting cash and able to be used by more than one person at a time and easy to armor against casual vandalism.
Ironically, the VOIP service through the cableco is actually more expensive than a traditional twisted-pair line.
On the other hand, for real emergencies 911 works even on a "dead" twisted-pair line.
Historically speaking it's the people that band together and help each other in emergencies that do best.
The higher the technology, the bigger fall when it fails in a disaster.
you cant overengineer everything.
keeping around low tech backups is never bad, and is cheaper too.
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Ah, thanks for adding to the discussion to let everyone know you're passive aggressive and read too much Ayn Rand.
You could just help people instead of judging them. I hope I'm never next to you in a crisis.
Little helpful life tip for you: Help everyone in need and let God (or the random heartless chaos of the godless universe) sort out the rest.
A vending machine selling disposable paper cell phones for $1 would be an adequate replacement.
Except that's not the way it works. The telcos want the wired land lines to go away because of the overhead. That means that they have policies that make it difficult, if not impossible, to keep your wired line.
For example, most telcos won't activate service on any form of fiber-based connection without permanently severing your ability to get a dial tone on the original wired-line service at that address. So you have a choice: high speed Internet service above DSL speeds or wired voice. You can't have both unless you have a multi-unit dwelling and can add the high speed Internet service to the second unit.
For many people, it has nothing to do with saving a few bucks.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
I'm afraid there's no way to hide one of these inside an iPhone. Not yet anyways.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
New York decided long long ago to bury all utility lines, and this is why the pay phones continued to work. Most areas in this country have overhead utilities, so in the case of a hurricane the phone lines would fail.
Getting rid of phone booths is all part of a plot by Torchwood to make it easier to monitor time travelers: First, they eliminate police boxes so they can spot The Doctor right away if he shows up, and now they're targeting Bill and Ted, too. The only reason they aren't buying up DeLoreans is that Marty's got destroyed - BUT HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW HARD IT IS TO BUY FLYING STEAM LOCOMOTIVES?!
:::The Spear in the heart of the Other is the Spear in the heart of You; You are He - Surak of Vulcan:::
I can recite exactly two phone numbers from memory: mine, and my Dad's. The latter is because he still has the same phone number I grew up with. So if I didn't have my cell phone, and power was out everywhere, I wouldn't know whom to call anyway.
The Deutsche Telekom just made them all wi-fi hotspots for its clients. Which means wi-fi, even in the most backwards "hicktown".
And if you haven’t got a device on you, just use the large screen and keyboard it has itself. (Those virtually indestructible ones, like on ATMs, but full keyboards.)
You aren't one of their clients, just buy yourself some wi-fi time via the screen.
And phone calling still works. (Good for when your battery is empty, or for emergencies, or the homeless / really poor / elderly.)
I think it's a great solution. And I really hope it makes a profit for them so it stays in existence. I deserves to.
related to this: the heavy reliance on the cell system (voice & data) for communication and information could be used to make a case for increased regulation of the system as a public utility, irrespective of the problems it had or the availability of POTS lines, public or private.
So New York is flooded, power is out, and you can drop quarter into a payphone to call someone that cares?
I think this speaks more of the fact we need better power and wireless systems. How can landline service survive when everything else is knocked out? How about getting the people that invented landline phone service to invest a little time and effort making power lines and wireless services a little more resilient.
Also, I think its time that people invent a cell phone that can last more than a day on a charge. I mean 40 years later and my wireless phone still wont work past a day in spite of all the supposed innovation in battery and computer technology.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
So you have a choice: high speed Internet service above DSL speeds from the telco, who wants more money than it's worth and would result in reduced redundancy or wired voice.
FTFY.
If the headline is a question, the answer is always "No".
Yeah, that's not actually how the quote goes.
It's obviously meant to refer to Betteridge's Law of Headlines- and whether the AC's paraphrasing it accurate or not, it certainly misses the both the spirit and the purpose of the original quote. (For those unaware of Betteridge, and- more importantly- those who think they have, but don't get why it doesn't apply here, read the linked article. Betteridge's Law doesn't refer to open questions like the one above, but to article headlines based on an attention-getting premise that there is insufficient evidence to back up as facts, e.g. "Have We Found the Cure for AIDS? (No; or you wouldn't have put the question mark in.)".)
Then again, while unfortunate, it's not surprising that Betteridge's Law has become the latest insightful observation/rule-of-thumb to fall victim to overuse and misuse by lazy posters who haul it out at every opportunity as a canned substitute for real insight or intelligence. Anyone could have seen that coming.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
...voting machines... they are bound to be more secure....
Understand that the reason phone sevice seems to have gotten cheaper is because we are moving from heavily regulated and tariffed landline connections to far less regulated cell phone and VOIP connections.
For example, the CO for land line connections is a building filled with batteries because they are required to supply the 48 VDC uninterrupted to land line phones to ensure they are available without interruption. No such guarantee of service is present for either VOIP or cell phones. With VOIP you are at the mercy of so many things that it would be impossible to provide any guarantee of service. With cell phones when the UPS for the cell tower runs out, that tower is down until the power comes back on. No guarantees whatsoever.
Could cell phone be made to be reliable? Doubtful. To have the same type of service guarantee as for land lines every cell tower would need a diesel generator and at least one person on duty at all times. Not going to happen.
Could VOIP be made reliable? If we are talking about the cable system type of VOIP, then it could but it would require lots of equipment that today doesn't even have a UPS have full battery capability so that the network would continue to operate in the face of an extended power outage. If we are talking about Vonage or similar services the answer is that it could not be made any more reliable than the flakiest piece of equipment between the telephone and where it joins the telephone network. That is going involve far more network equipment than you would believe and not everyone is going to have an interest in keeping their entire data center up in the face of a power outage.
I think the era of reliable telephone communications is just about over. People are abandoning the reliable network in favor of unreliable alternatives in droves and there really isn't any going back.
There's two things a good security guard must have on his belt at all times - a can of pepper spray, and when things get messy, a fanny-pack of quarters to call the police.
Get rid of the old payphones and install satellite phones...
OR
Make the electrical grid and cell phone towers more robust to disasters and conduct system stress tests.
When I still had a land line, I specifically *did* *not* have an unlimited line. As most people called me on it, and I called out on my cell phone, I think it was $6 or $7 per month. Plus another $2/month so it was unlisted.
It got such little use after ~5-6 years, I gave it up, though. And now that Verizon's doing the whole fibre thing, if I tried to start it back up, they'd probably try to convert me, with one of those boxes that they *claim* will stay up for 48hrs after power loss, but has been shown to not even make it 24hrs. (not that it really matters when you're down for 4 days)
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Pay phones are a waste of space. How about making cell service a emergency service, and protect it from floods, earthquakes, fires... etc. Also, create emergency charging stations in public facilities for people to charge their phones if the outage is prolonged. Communications are a huge thing to have in a disaster. A pay phone is not going to help you if you are disabled and stuck on the 10th floor in an apartment building. People used payphones because the cellular network failed.
Christchurch (New Zealand) has suffered two devastating earthquakes in the last couple of years. This caused quite a bit of damage to the telecommunications infrastructure. In some cases the lead sheaths around the cables melted (due to the stretching and flexing). Interestingly mobile was barely affected, though it was a scramble to get portable generators out to the base stations before the batteries ran flat.
The payphones have ended up being quite useful in this situation.
First, the pay phones were zero-rated (made free to use), which was useful for people with no power. Then they were used to install free wireless access points (as they had power and a cable pair). Interestingly one of the biggest obstacles to this was NZ's three-strikes law around copyright infringements, as the wifi use was anonymous.
What's the alternative to the telco for above-DSL home Internet, especially in areas with no desirable cable television provider?
Cell phone service could be made more reliable than land line phones.
Land line phones are vulnerable because of all of those wires strung on poles which get knocked down in windstorms. Cell phone service doesn't have all of those vulnerable wires strung all over the place. They have either a well protected (underground) cable or a microwave link.
What is needed is power to the cell phone towers and the phone companies have been fighting against a requirement that they have backup power. However, if the cell towers had reliable power, they would be more reliable than land line service (which has been required to have backup batteries). Seems like a logical requirement to have cell tower power backup.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
If a city or town wants to provide free calling in emergencies, that's easy enough to do. Just open up places with calling. The real issue is do we as a society want to maintain the POTS infrastructure or let the system collapse and move towards internet and cell only. That's both more expensive and a crucial prerequisite.
In addition, I would drop the payphone and instead create a payable WIFI set-up on a land-line, that allows you to download a voip app.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
The way I see it, the phone companies should use phone booths as wi-fi hotspots. For their existing cellphone and internet subscribers, they can use for free. For all others a modest per usage fee (yeah... I know my idea of modest and theirs is quite different, but still...).
This would have the advantage of providing emergency landline access for those who need it (dead cell phones, 911 calls, etc), while being of use to their existing customer base, **and** a modest revenue stream from all others.
Ah, thanks for adding to the discussion to let everyone know you're passive aggressive and read too much Ayn Rand.
Ayn Rand? You got the wrong end of the political spectrum here. I'm a socialist.
As such, I believe in helping anyone who has fulfilled their part of the bargain: "From each according to ability; to each according to need". Not those Ayn Randers who believe that a buck saved is a human right.
You have brilliantly illuminated the viewpoint, moral character, and intellectual capacities of the leadership of the United States of America.
No more need be said.
especially in areas with no desirable cable television provider?
If you automatically discard one provider because you don't like them, you've made a conscious choice to do so. They still offer a technically feasible and useful solution to your problem, you've just decided not to count them for political or social reasons.
So, the "undesirable" cable television provider is still an alternative solution to the problem of losing your copper pair when getting "faster than DSL" internet. Tethered 3/4g, wireless, satellite, cable; all are potential other sources.
It's like trying to claim that GM doesn't make cars, when the fact is they make cars but you don't like GM as a company. Personally, I dislike the telco* more than the cable company, but want a copper pair for resiliency, too.
* they lied to me about static addresses being included in the DSL package, and couldn't manage to install it on the correct line when they managed to do it. Then they lied to the PUC when I complained about them lying about the static addresses. Most recently, they ran me around for 45 minutes over a $0.75 charge for a three-way call that couldn't possibly have been made from my phone, repeatedly claiming that "the computer says the call was made and that proves it was."
Satellite phones get around all these problems as long as you already charged your phone before the emergency. Possibly cell towers could run for a while on batteries if they only allow SMS and only a few per phone. There could be portable cell towers with generators - only a few of them are needed if bandwidth is reduced. I'm pretty sure the combined expense for pay phones could buy quite a few portable cell towers ready to be wheeled out for those brief moments where they are needed.
If you automatically discard one provider because you don't like them, you've made a conscious choice to do so.
As opposed to discarding a provider because I'm not willing to move into their service area. I was under the impression that there were places that could get fiber from the phone company but couldn't get cable.
What bargain? Pay taxes yes, but paying some company a extra for a phone line which may or may not still work after disaster is a bit harsh.
You could as easily say no you can't share my food because you didn't stock up even if you had plenty. Someone using your phone line will not detract significantly from your survival so if you say no you are just being a prat.
The fact is now our communication systems are changing we should simply make them reliable in a disaster not stick some outmoded communication devise on every corner.
.
Even in a power outage, landlines often keep working while the power is out (at least if you have a hard-wired landline, cordless phones at home will need a home-based UPS battery backup system). Any students or professors who depended on cellular only access could NOT get through in the first 8 hours or so of the quake, whereas the landline students COULD get through, and helped the students without landlines by letting them use the phones.
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I believe the standard excuse for police to pull out public payphones is to label them as a "hazard" used by drug dealers who can make phone calls without being traced. I've seen pay phones disappear from beside the 7-11's and the little mini-malls you see all over southern california. It's ridiculous to get rid of them when they can be a valuable lifeline in case of an emergency.
The most reliable and robust communication systems are often the simplest.. In disaster zones, n-way radio is often the most reliable electronic communications. perhaps cellphones should have a p2p mode that kicks in when it can't get on the cellnet..
companies to the same standards we do with the land lines. LL must withstand 80% usage peak, while cell phone networks can fold at 50%.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
It is the principal design guideline about security and availability.
Engineers should not accept the current standards of technology building.
Software not safe
communications not safe
Most of the current technology advancement is lost of high standards and safety considerations.
You're all doing it wrong. Have you learned nothing? The answer is so simple!
Really, what the phone companies should do is follow the RIAA and MPAA's lead - insist that cell phones steal conversations out of thin air and sue everybody who owns one. Bribe politicians to pass laws against uploading conversations to other freeloaders. (*The following will benefit greatly from being read in a Sam Kinison preacher voice*) In time those nasty telepirates will cancel their contracts for fear of being crushed by wholy reasonable fines as all such dirty little scofflaws should expect, massively driving up the profits of the telcos via early termination fees which they should all eagerly DOUBLE AND TRIPLE IMMEDIATELY in orgasmic financial anticipation, culminating in a Ma Bell & Associates facial of silvery change being sprayed from the Sacred Coin Return Slot of The People, attainable only by the Law-Abiding and the Money-Hungry, the sole bearers of The Secret and The Touch, Possessors of the Grace, wielders of the government-bestowed wherewithal to jiggle the Coin Return Slot Handle Thingy That Never Works For The Rest Of Us, whose station in life is assured by the Federal Bindings of Holy Legislative Corporate Matrimony. Can I get an Amen brothers and sisters? I SAY CAN I GET AN AMEN, BROTHERS AND SISTERS!
So shall their business model be set in stone and painted as the American Flag-wrapped paragon of all that is right and good, as we all know in our heart of hearts it truly is. Public phones will be assured their continued presence, nay, their celebration! As they should be, my children, as they should be. Home phones will be outlawed, for through the errors of our past we have seen what false idols they be. The glory of a payphone in every home, as it always should have been! The Supermen who rule our great nation gently and wisely will never have to fear changing out in the open where we might catch a reality-based glimpse of their unlicensed Wonder Woman underoos, basketwoven of Soylent Green, broken dreams and puppy dog tails. No one should see that. Amen, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Profit, rinse, repeat ad nauseum. Ain't America fun?
Emergency phones. A simple virtually indestructible phone that runs on solar power and normally uses the standard cell network for calling, but in times of disaster can utilize shortwave, video frequencies to assure that people everywhere can remain in communication and have access to emergency resources as they may be available.
Most recently, they ran me around for 45 minutes over a $0.75 charge for a three-way call that couldn't possibly have been made from my phone, repeatedly claiming that "the computer says the call was made and that proves it was."
You should take heart in the thought that your call cost them way more than $0.75 to deal with, even if they did not reverse the charges. You provided a public service to the rest of us by your actions. I sometimes get a good feeling when I get a robo-call and put it on speaker phone while I do something else until their system hangs up - the longer they are on line with me, the higher their cost-per-call is, and the less time to they have to use their system calling others.
You could as easily say no you can't share my food because you didn't stock up even if you had plenty.
Indeed.
And you can't have my wood either if you had the ability and opportunity, but decided to not replenish your wood pile in order to save a buck or not have to do the dirty work.
If a tornado took it, or you couldn't afford it, I'll gladly share, but if it was your own conscious decisions that caused you to be without something vital, you deserve the consequences.
I would gladly feed or warm children who can't be blamed for their parents' choices, but watching some calculating bastard who lost their bet starve or freeze would cause me no lack of sleep.
If he survives, he learns a valuable lesson, and if not, well, there's one less stupid in the world.
Charity is for those who deserve compassion. Not those who have money but choose to ignore precautions in order to save a buck, and rely on their fellow men for help when they should have been helping, not helped.
The fact is now our communication systems are changing we should simply make them reliable in a disaster not stick some outmoded communication devise on every corner.
The fact is that that outmoded communication technology kept me with both phone and internet for a week+ long power outage even when my cable and cell phone both were dead. My neighbors were forced to rely on modern methods like waiting at the gas station for hours and driving quite a distance just to let people know they were still alive.
I have a can opener that works without electricity too, a battery powered AM radio, and even a kettle. They may be outdated compared to electric can openers, Vue-cup coffee makers and Sirius XM, but I can rely on them.
That doesn't mean I can't also have the latest and greatest, but if I relied on new tech in a country with a power grid from the days of Charlemagne, I'd be a fool.
Turn every pay phone into a wifi hotspot with free unlimited cell calling using a common carrier and sell advertising on it to pay for it. Like $50 a month per location, right?
Can I take this to mean you volunteer to pay for it?
Or is this, like so many other posts on Slashdot, you volunteering other people to pay for it so you can use it because
*whiny spoiled brat voice* you deserve everything you want for FREEEEEEEEEEEE because you went through the difficult trials of being borrrrrrrrrrrn!
Why carry a phone at all? Even cell phones are ridiculous.
a) You look like an idiot saying 'can you hear me now' everywhere you go.
b) If you complain about wanting to be more social, or are depressed, or take anti depressants. My bet is (1) you use your cell phone to filter your phone calls (2) you act 'busy' in public when someone you're not wanting to approach you acts like they are.. That phone threatens your life. Imagine what life without the cell phone would be like. Now try it.
I dont use phones anymore. I have a computer for my phone calls. It's free for my phone calls, and easier to play games on.
I have an analog watch. It's a Walmart watch. $19.99. It glows in the dark, and has Mickey Mouse on it. It's gotten me laid more than once.
I have a daytimer. So when I dropped my phone into the toilet last time. I flushed. it, saying screw it. I no longer lose my numbers because I'm not talking over the toilet and I'm also not a threat to other people on the road when I'm driving because I'm listening to new music on the radio instead.
Really. Pay phones are nice, convenient, more so than cell phones. But let's be honest. There's nothing pressing I've ever had happened that has required a cell phone or pay phone for immediacy, where I couldnt go knock on a stranger's door and ask them for help... You can't imagine how welcoming people are, and how surprisingly fearless people still are when someone asks for help and a phone call.
It's a great way to meet people. And who knows. You could meet your next boyfriend or girlfriend by randomly popping by someone's door and saying 'can i use your phone?
Now, if I only could convince a nude beautiful woman who did it as a joke (and not running from a rapist!) to do this, I'd swear I was in heaven!
And if we extend your point to the scale of the entire country, none of you fuckers should get a single penny of aid money and no FEMA help either. Because, you know, you're the one who chose to live there.
I would gladly feed or warm children who can't be blamed for their parents' choices, but watching some calculating bastard who lost their bet starve or freeze would cause me no lack of sleep.
That's because you're a sociopath.
but if someone willingly severed his land line in order to save money
Unless you're using a pre-paid cell phone, a landline is vastly less expensive.
Or, to put it another way: If you were too cold hearted to subsidize the land line network by subscribing to it
You subsidize it with a cell phone as well. The USF is collected for all phone lines, regardless of whether it's a wired line or cellular based. And my taxes go to subsidize both types of services even if I don't have a phone at all.
I'm too cold hearted to help you for free.
That's really all you needed to post, the rest is just bullshit you're using to rationalize your attitude to avoid feelings of guilt for being a prick.
Cell service was affected due to power outages. So was landline service, and many people lost landline service when trees took down lines or poles snapped even when power remained on. In many cases cell phones are much more reliable in a major event like this, in other cases a landline holds up better.
You can't have my wood!
NO means NO!
In a neighborhood adjacent to Ft. Lauderdale High School the local property owners formed a mob and walked down the streets with sledge hammers and other tools and demolished every pay phone in the neighborhood. It seems that hookers and dope dealers and buyers were the ones using the pay phones almost exclusively. Now no pay phone survives in that neighborhood. Yet there is a high traffic highway right at hand and anyone whose car brakes down who does not have a working cell phone is in big trouble. At night that neighborhood is dangerous. Waiting for a cop to pass by might be an all nighter at times and maybe not even then. Cut backs mean less patrols on less streets.
The question is how much damage is done by allowing pay phones compared to the good that is done. Even the convenience stores have pretty much gotten rid of pay phones as they get people lurking about supposedly waiting for a call.
At this time the greatest question probably should be when will copper lines be shut down for good. It is all going to cell traffic.
Next stupid question.
did hurricane sandy scramble the aether? why is a phone booth with a wire strung across how many miles back to the CO more reliable than the cell phone tower which is also strung back several miles to the CO (assuming it isn't microwave to the CO) ? stop building the stupid towers out of spare bits of metal you find on the ground and make them to withstand a 50-year event.
You're making the incorrect assumption that the only reasons to reject one provider are political or social. There are also companies that:
And so on. There may be very valid technical reasons why you have to reject one provider or another, and none of those reasons are particularly uncommon.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Oh, yeah. I also forgot the sadly still common mother of all technical reasons:
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
"Should we in North America make sure that public pay phones will always be widely available?"
We the taxpayers? No.
In Reason We Trust