What will you do when the cell-phones don't work?

[Mind_your_head]

Think seriously about this for a moment or two......

Think about how you communicate with the people who are important to you? What would you do if you couldn't reach them by phone/cell-phone/text-message? How would you even FIND these people again?

What did they 'do' in the 'old days'? Meet you under the Eiffel Tower one year after the war ends? :shrug:

Anyone who would care to share strategies?.....b/c it WILL happen.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[aquart]

1. Rejoice?

[NanceGreggs]

31. GMTA!

I just got onto this thread. The minute I saw the opening premise, the first word that popped into my head was "rejoice".

[MonkeyFunk]

2. umm....

why will the cell phones stop working?

[SoCalDem]

3. I still have my wired to the wall phone

but then I rarely call anyone or get calls :)

[oldtime dfl_er]

4. Don't have one

so I don't really care. People rely on them too much.


www.scarebaby.com

[Ghost in the Machine]

5. I don't know about long distance, but most of my family lives right here

on the same hill that I do. We're using these:

http://www.kingofresale.com/catalog.cfm?do=details&itemID=1729



READY FOR YOUR NEXT OUTDOOR ADVENTURE!

The PR385WX displays Cobras trademark of quality.
The radios offer crisp, clear communication for up to 6 miles with 7 FRS channels and 38 privacy codes and 8 GMRS channels and 38 privacy codes.
Backlit LCD displays are easy to see for night time use.
VOX allows for hands free communication.
The auto squelch feature automatically shuts off weak transmissions or unwanted noise due to terrain or range constraints.
Features:
Up to 6 Mile Range
Weather Resistant
7 FRS Channels And 38 Privacy Codes
8 GMRS Channels And 38 Privacy Codes
10 NOAA Weather Channels
10 Call Tones
Rubberized 'Soft Grip' Sides
Battery Meter
Audible Low-Battery Indicator
Backlit LCD

http://www.kingofresale.com/catalog.cfm?do=details&itemID=1729

[EFerrari]

6. Walk. My extended family has an emergency plan

that we came up with after we couldn't reach each other in the aftermath of the last big quake here.

It's radio and walking to a meeting place if necessary. I don't even worry about it any more because it will happen and we have a plan.

[southerncrone]

7. Cheeeeeeer!!

I do not live & die by my cell phone. They are a bane to my existence. Only have one because hubby insisted. It's just a GPS unit on my ass! Good mostly for people who "want me to do something FOR THEM" to contact me to do their bidding. The world was a better place b/4 they came along IMHO. They are a major source of stress in our society.

[global1]

8. Lots Of People Are Abandoning Their Land Lines And Using Their Cells.....

as their only phone. As this trend continues - eventually the Bells will be saying that it doesn't pay to continue to offer land lines and service land lines. They will continue to raise the price on these until the consumer is forced into going to only a cell phone.

Look at how dependent people have become to their cell phones. They can't even stop using them while they are driving, shopping, at the movies (vibrate) or worst yet - church.

So heaven forbid that when the bulk of us are all on cells - that the networks go dead. Chaos!!!!!!

[kenny blankenship]

9. I will drive around with a cell phone clamped to my ear, singing show tunes into it

in the most animated display I can manage, just to convince other drivers on I-285 that my cell phone still works while theirs is pushing up daisies in a landfill.

Now that I've told you my secret, suppose you tell me why my cell phone is going to stop working?

[RB TexLa]

10. Ugh! Me no like cell phones

Let the technology bashing begin!

[Quantess]

15. Hey, are those man-boobs, or is that a bearded lady?

Cheers. :toast:
Ah yes, another thread dedicated to irrational hatred of cell phones.

[napi21]

11. Hell I'd celebrate if cell phones didn't work anymore!

Text messaging is WORSE! The only thing I don't feel I could do without is the internet! I really have gotten adicted to DU and I feel like most people here are my good friends!

[Gregorian]

12. I'm still using Morse code. What's a cell phone?

I must be one of the few who doesn't have one. I've even been tempted to remove the phone. I hardly ever use it.

And up until about a year ago I wouldn't have missed the internet either. But it has grown on me. I primarily use it for listening to music. And two or three websites.

Now if you want to talk hardship, try living without electricity for a year. I did that in 1999. Not fun. Even with a generator. Think refrigeration. Lights. Water? How do you get water without electricity?

I've imagined worse. But I'm hoping we pull out of this nosedive we're in before it gets that bad.


If we have a big solar flare, we will lose satellites.

The bottom line, I always say, is that humans made it all of these years without any of this stuff. It makes one wonder, doesn't it?

[Mind_your_head]

13. Not even 'one' recommend'?????

Good G-d.....think how fragile we've let our society become!

You lose your cell-phone, you've lost all of your contacts. You don't 'know' your friends number....it's on speed=dial....G-d forbid you just 'show up at their door'.....and mebbe that's what's more needed, "just showing up at their door" and not discussing so much 'over the phone' and such.....

Just sayin'...

M_Y_H

[MonkeyFunk]

17. Why should we recommend it?

You haven't told us why the cell phones are going to stop working.

[WinkyDink]

35. The government could stop them. LINK:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5077634.html

[uppityperson]

48. Emergency, like hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc.

Cell phone towers go out, aren't up for days/weeks/months/yrs.

[MonkeyFunk]

51. Do you know of any case in the world

where cell phones were out or months or years?

Landline phones are out or days weeks following a major catastrophe, too.

[uppityperson]

52. Were you in MS/LA in 2006?

speaking on months, and cell phone, and landlines, and mail.

[MonkeyFunk]

54. OK.. months, not years

and landlines were out. In fact, given the lack of electricity, I would guess that cell phones were restored before landlines in many places.

I still don't understand the OP's concern. S/he implies there will be a nationwide or worldwide shutdown of cell phone service. I just don't see how it's any different from any other form of communication. In a disaster, yes, many things stop working.

[uppityperson]

55. Yeah, me too.

[Quantess]

20. I'd give it a minus-recommend, if I could!

Cell phones are delightful companions. I'm not going to give mine up without a fight.
And, you are so wrong. Cell phones are not going away! Cell phones are here to stay, so you'd be wise to get used to it and get over your irrational anger toward these technological gems.

[Bluebear]

26. Um, I think he is saying in an emergency the cellphones may not work.

Not that he wants to ban cellphones.

[whoneedstickets]

14. Smoke signals...

..or drums.

Invest in carrier pigeon stock.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mind_your_head]

19. Any excuse will do, you see.....

'WE', the 'people', don't control/own ANY of this infrastrcure anymore. Those that DO 'own' it can 'turn it on or off' at any time and we would/don't have any 'say' AT ALL. We're 'relying' (sp?) on 'their' benevolence.

I'm not such a fool as to trust in that. You can believe whatever.....but you may be a 'fool' and henceforth, I won't believe (rightfully so) anything you say.

[Quantess]

24. "Those that DO 'own' it can 'turn it on or off' at any time..."

Now I sort of see what you're saying.... That the government/people in control of the country can shut off our cell phones. Is that what you're saying?

I see it differently. I think they (the ones in control) would rather have us blabbing on the phone so they can keep on spying on us. :shrug:

[Mind_your_head]

25. Yes.....they can shut our 'known' lines of communication down at 'any time'

C'mon, face it.....most of what us 'regular people' have to say is REALLY BORING....."they" aren't really listening to 'us'. These wiretaps are all about political/corporate espinage....which is kind of funny in a way that some of us lowly 'people' are trying to protect the lousy politicians and corporations whom this would really hurt! While these same politicians and corporations do NOTHING to help regular people.....strange that.

[Quantess]

29. If they listened to my conversations and read my text messages,

they'd mostly get pretty inane stuff. Corny wisecracks, up-to-date info about the pets, snarky comments about fashion offenders, kinky-diaper-sex republicans, etc.

I do know someone who frequently makes international (work related) calls to people in places like India and South America, and domestic calls to Iranian immigrants. Her phone calls are likely, equally boring, but there's a good bet her phone calls are getting wiretapped.
But, knowing her, she probably peppers her conversations with anti-B*sh administration statements, so it's all good.;-)

[Bluebear]

27. 9/11: " cell phones and communications were spotty, if functioning at all"

'That left the first responders reeling in their initial response--and also affected the environmental health response. Because power had been cut off, some of the air-sampling monitors weren’t working; cell phones and communications were spotty, if functioning at all, because suddenly thousands of people were trying to use their cell phones.'

http://www.neha.org/9-11%20report/index-Emergenc.html

[Mojorabbit]

36. They quit here

after a hurricane. They have backup generators at the towers with limited fuel. Land lines worked though.

[MonkeyFunk]

42. ANY form of communications

can be down following an emergency. Landline phones are often out after a big storm here, or after an earthquake.

Plus, most people's landline phones are now electric, and are out when the power's out.

I'm sure telegraph lines were blown down in storms, too. And smoke signals didn't work in a hurricane, either.

There's no incentive for the people who own the cell phone infrastructure to shut it down - it puts them out of business.

[Mojorabbit]

45. I have never lost my

old fashioned land line after a storm. I have lost cell phone coverage after the towers ran out of backup generator power. My BIL puts the towers up and says it is common after a prolonged period when maintenence can't be done or when there is damage after a storm. It isn't that they want to shut them down.

[Skittles]

18. WTF???

the OLD days? That was what - TEN YEARS AGO?

[Mind_your_head]

21. I'm disappointed that you would chime in here... , in this fashion

:cry:

[KeepItReal]

22. I got some stamps in my wallet - SNAIL MAIL, baby! Nothing stops the Post Office.

How cool is that?

[Quantess]

23. Very cool, actually.

It shows people you care. Most people love getting a handwritten letter now and then. It's so rare.

Letters, cell phones, email, are all tools for communication. My point is, communication should be seen as a good thing.

[treestar]

28. I don't know if that's a thing they'd do

They'd just see that as a resource to tap.

There would be the self-censorship, like as they describe in the USSR about how people would meet in the middle of a field to talk rather than risk being overheard by someone who would report them.

[orleans]

30. so we should all have a safety plan? just like we're supposed to have

in case of a fire?

everyone meet at aunt jill's house five blocks away?

meet at the old grade school on the other side of town?

look for me at the bus stop/train station/7-11?

probably not a bad idea

[izzie]

32. Use my line phone. I hate phones any how.

We had two phone in the house when we grew up and a egg timer on it how long we could use it. I never out grew father's rules on the darn thing and I have passed my 70th birthday. For the life of me I think they are an ego trip for people who have nothing much to say to say it many times..Usually in a place that makes them seem very rude to me. Oh well such is life.

[AndyTiedye]

33. Ham Radio

[Frank Cannon]

38. I actually got my ham radio license recently...

for just the reason cited in the original post, and because of all the shit that happened in Katrina. I wanted to learn about emergency communications.

[mwb970]

41. I wondered if anyone would mention ham radio.

I am in the process of setting up mobile and base stations so I can volunteer with the local emergency group. When all else fails...amateur radio!

AI8R
(licensed since 1961!)

[ruiner4u]

34. Refer to sig line

[B Calm]

37. I hate cell phones. To this day I still refuse buy one. You can survive

without this convenience because I'm living proof.

My only regret is, I wished I would have followed my instincts and bought stock in cell phone companies back in the mid nineties.

[Perry Logan]

39. I plan to help care for the brain-damage victims.

[RestoreGore]

40. One less line to be tapped...

And I don't have one, don't want one, and think people who walk around with them attached to their ears 24/7 need help. They have done nothing but perpetuate the atmosphere of paranoia that big brother loves to see and people need to wean themselves off of them like they do the television.

[Solly Mack]

43. I'm using smoke signals to transmit my reply

[Ezlivin]

44. I would call tech support in India

[scarletwoman]

46. Beats me. I've never had a cell phone, yet somehow I survive just fine. (nt)

[loudsue]

47. I don't know what I'm missing: I read the article....I've read this whole thread...

and democracy has been beaten down in Bangladesh, THEIR students are taking to the streets, the military have taken control of the government, and this is a thread about CELL PHONES BEING TURNED OFF?

I don't think that's their biggest problem. And if it happens here, cell phones won't be our biggest problem, either.

:kick:

[pimpbot]

49. I'd use my satellite phone (Inmarsat)

Or make a VoIP call through the Internet. If, for some reason all these options are down, I'd say I would be in a situation where trying to contact people I knew would be the least of my worries :).


Oh, just to add to your paranoia, all CDMA networks (Verizon, Sprint) require the use of GPS to keep their towers in sync. This is one of the major reasons Europe does not have any CDMA coverage. If there ever was a war, the US Gov't could just shutdown GPS for everyone except the military.

[ThomWV]

50. If every one of them on earth turned to dust tonight it wouldn't bother me a bit.

[alfredo]

53. ham radio, CB.

[defendandprotect]

56. I think we had "runners" ---

In fact, I'd be one who can testify to pre-in house telephone!!!!
You had to run to the drugstore or ice cream parlor and call --

I think before that, they used to send a kid or other agile family member to relay a message????

[krispos42]

57. -... .- -.-. -.- / - --- / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .

.-- . / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .... .- ...- . / - --- / ... . - / ..- .--. / --- ..- .-. / --- .-- -. / - . .-.. . --. .-. .- .--. .... / .-.. .. -. . ... / .- -. -.. / -- .- -.-- -... . / ... --- -- . / ... .. -- .--. .-.. . / .-. .- -.. .. --- / - .-. .- -. ... -- .. - - . .-. ... / .- -. -.. / .-. . .-.. . .- .-. -. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / .- --. .- .. -. / ..-. --- .-. / - .... . / .--. ..- .-. .--. --- ... . / --- ..-. / ... . -. -.. .. -. --. / -- . ... ... .- --. . ... / .-.. --- -. --. / -.. .. ... - .- -. -.-. . ...

.. - / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / -... . / -.. .. ..-. ..-. .. -.-. ..- .-.. - / -... ..- - / -.-. --- -. ... .. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / .... --- .-- / ..-. .- ... - / ... --- -- . / .--. . --- .--. .-.. . / - . -..- - / -- . ... ... .- --. . / .- -. -.. / - .... . / .- -... -... .-. . ...- .. .- - .. --- -. ... / - .... . -.-- / ..- ... . / .. - / -- .. --. .... - / -. --- - / -... . / .- ... / .... .- .-. -.. / .- ... / -.-- --- ..- / - .... .. -. -.-

[QC]

58. Revel in a quieter, more civil world.

Cell phones came straight from hell.

[roody]

59. I don't have one.

[Robbien]

60. Better yet, what would the TeleCo companies do without the flow of money

coming in from all the addicted cell phone users?

I don't think they could handle it.

[timtom]

61. What cell phone?

I don't have one (by choice). As to hooking up with others...it is what it is.