[BC] Tornado hits ERI's old area

[Barry Mishkind]

At 02:39 PM 11/7/2005, Rich Wood wrote
>------ At 11:13 AM 11/7/2005, Barry Mishkind wrote: -------
>
>>         Well, that is the problem.  But in many places,
>>         the majority of people have cell phones, and
>>         this is a quick, easy way to implement a
>>         wide area alert with the current telco structure.
>
>Not as easy as you think. Young people, such as myself, have our 
>phones turned on 24/7. Most older people I know think of the phone 
>as being for use in an emergency. If they need to make a call, they turn it on.

         One could be cynical and say something
         about survival of the alert ....


>This would require a new generation of phones that could be turned 
>on by an emergency signal. Unlike AM/FM receivers, people rarely 
>keep their phones very long before upgrading. We seem to keep our 
>radios for a lifetime. Phones are now so cheap and providers offer a 
>new one or $100 towards one every year, so it wouldn't take very 
>long to build a viable system. Unlike IBUZ which will take decades.

         Which is my point. It might be an
         exaggeration, but at any given moment,
         especially at night, are not more cell
         phones on than radios?  Even now.

         With some planning ... (I know, Mike
         Bergman says the planning cycle is
         a couple of years) ... perhaps even
         some of the existing phones could
         have the software patched, and
         the newer ones rolled into place
         as the phone pool rotates.