The Big Hangup At Burning Man Is Cell Phones

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "L. J. Williamson writes in the LA Times that with no running water, no plumbing, and no electrical outlets Burning Man isn't the kind of place to expect full bars on your smartphone and for many of the participants that's a big part of its charm. 'If you want to partake in the true Burning Man experience, you should leave your phone at home,' says Mark Hansen. In past years, the closest cellular towers, designed to serve the nearby towns of Empire (population 206) and Gerlach (population 217), would quickly get overwhelmed each August when Black Rock City (population 50,000 or so) rose from the featureless playa. Although Burning Man attracts a sizable Silicon Valley contingent including tech giants like Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin — the feeling of being 'unplugged' has become an integral part of the Burning Man experience. But another part of the event is an intrepid, DIY ethos, and in that spirit, David Burgess, co-creator of OpenBTS, an open-source cellular network software, brought a homemade in 2008, an 'almost comical' setup that created a working cellular network that routed a few hundred calls over a 48-hour period. In each subsequent year, Burgess has improved the system's reach and expects to have about three-quarters of this year's event covered. Burning Man proved an ideal test bed for development of Burgess' system, which he has since made available for use in other areas without cellular networks. 'People who have a lot of experience in international aid say Burning Man is a very good simulation of a well-organized refugee camp,' says Burgess. 'Because there's no infrastructure, it forces us to contend with a lot of problems that our rural customers have to contend with in very remote places.'"

Comments

Vanity

[DNS-and-BIND]

What good is it going to "Burning Man" if nobody knows you're there? People can't survive a week without facebook and twitter, that's just being unreasonable. People need validation! And likes! And the fact that it's hard to get cell service just makes you even more special to have gotten your photos out! Imagine the look on your workmates' faces when you call..."Guess where I am!" If this were an underground event, nobody would bother attending. Where's the fun in nobody knowing that you're there?

Gentry pseudo-hippies

[Anonymous Coward]

Trust fund rebels can't get a signal on their iStuff.

If you have to have cell service

[Spy Handler]

at Burning Man, you're a fucking poser and really shouldn't even be there.

Re:If you have to have cell service

[Anonymous Coward]

Burning Man stands for absolutely nothing other than privileged, usually white people who want to go waste a lot of time while being very conscious of the fact that this supposedly makes them cool. It's silly to try to label a subsect of Burners as posers when posing is one of the main reasons for going to Burning Man. I write this as someone who lived in San Francisco for several years, and had burners as roommates and dates. If people at Burning Man used their talents to actually do something constructive, I would be a huge supporter of it -- but I would guess most people would stop going.

Re:If you have to have cell service

[TWiTfan]

I would just like to add that I was into that band before they got popular and went all commercial, and I don't even *own* a TV.

Re:If you have to have cell service

[cayenne8]

Burning Man stands for absolutely nothing other than privileged, usually white people who want to go waste a lot of time while being very conscious of the fact that this supposedly makes them cool.

Yeah...bad time to be a white person. I mean, what are they all thinking...having time off and disposable income and wasting it on themselves rather than sharing it with the more deserving people who are having to do without.

Geez...the bastards.

Re:If you have to have cell service

[GonzoPhysicist]

Actually "people at Burning Man us[ing] their talents to actually do something constructive" is how the whole thing works. Where do you think all the art, events, bars, DJs, classes, and other fun stuff comes from? They weren't paid to be there.
While it is true that there are those that come to mooch off all this creativity and culture, but one of the central tenets is being part of the community and contributing to it.

Re:Is

[Em Adespoton]

Actually, "The big hangups are cell phones" or "The big hangup is cell phone connectivity"

Nah; it's really "The big hangups are cell +++ATH0#$*(SD^F&*^ --NO CARRIER--

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I always heard that Burning Man was off the hook....

Burning mens' wallets

[JoeyRox]

Today's burning man is about as counter-culture as a midnight madness sale at Walmart. The only difference is Walmart doesn't charge admission.

Cell Phones

[Mullen]

This article is so horribly written that it makes my head hurt.

First off, the Tech Titans that go to Burning Man fly in private jets and stay in "Pay to Play" camps. Not to be a Burning Man snob, they are not getting the Burning Man experience. Also, most of them stay a day or so and then leave.

The OpenBTS network that is setup is a closed private Cell Phone network (This is covered in the FAQ). You have to have a GSM phone, type in special codes to get it to work and there are a number of restrictions to using the network. As the article stated, calling out is limited and calling in very limited. It's great for sending TXT messages, but the coverage is spotty at best.

OpenBTS only supports GSM, not CDMA (Verizon and Sprint), so that means not everyone can use it. Verizon kinda works out there, but TXT is the only thing flowing in or out (With long delays) since there are still too many people out there for the local cell phone infrastructure.

There is wireless at Burning Man, but really only at Center Camp and after about 8:00a, it gets crushed with users. Trust me, no one is checking Facebook or Instagram at Burning Man.

This whole, "OMG, CELL PHONES AT BURNING MAN IS GOING TO RUIN BURNING MAN" is completely over blown. Just about everyone turns off their phones at the gates and leaves them off all week. Burning Man was and still is a completely different world for one week.

Re:FCC License?

[Erbo]

From the last linked article: "GSM operates on licensed bandwidth, so for any U.S. installation, the OpenBTS crew always obtains a FCC license and works with the local carrier to coordinate frequency use." As they should.

(Speaking of radios and frequency coordination, I've wondered how big a presence amateur radio has at Burning Man. It seems like it'd be a natural fit.)

Re:Interesting assessment

[Hatta]

On the contrary, it seems like Burning Man is uninviting to anyone who doesn't have a real job. Who else can afford tickets? My sense is that a lot of burners are professionals the other 51 weeks of the year. Burning Man is a huge release from all the conformity they deal with the rest of the year. They get one week out of the year to feel cool, so they make it as extreme as possible.

Re:hidden smoldering man

[Anonymous Coward]

I know you know you better than I know you but have you ever considered that the event changed less than you have? There's a lot of things I liked even 10 years ago and when I try to revisit them I think they suck. More and more I've come to the realization that what has changed really isn't that much worse and what I like that hasn't changed just doesn't appeal to me anymore. I've never been to burning man but I've done other counter culture events and I can see how much I've changed in them.