• FCC chief Ajit Pai wants Apple to stop disabling FM radio chips in iPhones
    11 replies, posted
[url]https://arstechnica.com/?p=1176387[/url]
Has there ever been an issue receiving emergency alerts on iPhones? Surely listening through a radio you could miss certain important information since you'd be picking it up live? And what if (somehow) you were completely unaware of a hurricane coming, so you didn't think to check the radio until it was too late? I feel like this is trying to fix something that isn't broken.
Wow, Ajit actually does something not inherently evil for once? It's a fucking miracle. Either that or he's worried Congress might actually fire his dumb ass.
[QUOTE=djjkxbox;52726647]Has there ever been an issue receiving emergency alerts on iPhones? Surely listening through a radio you could miss certain important information since you'd be picking it up live? And what if (somehow) you were completely unaware of a hurricane coming, so you didn't think to check the radio until it was too late? I feel like this is trying to fix something that isn't broken.[/QUOTE] What if you don't have signal for mobile but you do have a FM transmission ? FM radio is still an amazing useful tool to get information during or after natural disasters.
Surely the solution should be to install more cell towers? That way people have access to emergency services, contacting their family, as well as being able to receive alerts in a more efficient way [editline]28th September 2017[/editline] This is still the first time that I've heard of this being an issue.
[QUOTE=djjkxbox;52726719]Surely the solution should be to install more cell towers?[/QUOTE] When disasters fucks their collective shit up due to the fragile nature of cellular networks? lmao, seriously though the only thing that'd have FM beat in range and sheer durability when it comes to emergency situations is AM. I wouldn't trust cellular to deliver messages to me when shit has hit the fan.
I'm not really sure what makes FM more "durable", aside from where it's being transmitted from. Range is a fair point though, but my main point was has anyone actually said this is an issue before Ajit Pai? It seems kinda odd that it's now suddenly an issue, despite the fact that there have been plenty of disasters throughout the iPhone's lifespan
[QUOTE=Van-man;52726738]When disasters fucks their collective shit up due to the fragile nature of cellular networks? lmao, seriously though the only thing that'd have FM beat in range and sheer durability when it comes to emergency situations is AM. I wouldn't trust cellular to deliver messages to me when shit has hit the fan.[/QUOTE] Though you're not wrong, this reminded me of the fact that even when power and cable Internet was completely and utterly dead in my neighborhood during the hurricane, the cell network was surprisingly durable and allowed me to check in with my friends every once in a while. Granted I was far from the worst of it, but I expected mobile data at least to fail along with everything else and it never did.
[QUOTE=froztshock;52726760]Though you're not wrong, this reminded me of the fact that even when power and cable Internet was completely and utterly dead in my neighborhood during the hurricane, the cell network was surprisingly durable and allowed me to check in with my friends every once in a while. Granted I was far from the worst of it, but I expected mobile data at least to fail along with everything else and it never did.[/QUOTE] Even if some of the towers are still up, the remaining ones quickly gets swamped unless the coverage is greatly over-provisioned to begin with.
[QUOTE=djjkxbox;52726746]I'm not really sure what makes FM more "durable", aside from where it's being transmitted from. Range is a fair point though, but my main point was has anyone actually said this is an issue before Ajit Pai? It seems kinda odd that it's now suddenly an issue, despite the fact that there have been plenty of disasters throughout the iPhone's lifespan[/QUOTE] Its a much simpler protocol, one way in this case, and doesnt require access to an auth server to receive and decode. Your phone's SIM card fails to communicate with an auth server run by your carrier and bam, cell network is useless. Available towers overloaded? Bam, cell network useless. But FM will come in crystal clear. Its also a great way to enjoy music without murdering your battery and data usage.
[QUOTE=djjkxbox;52726746]I'm not really sure what makes FM more "durable"[/QUOTE] Cell towers can get congested, FM cannot
Statement from Apple [quote="Apple"]"Apple cares deeply about the safety of our users, especially during times of crisis and that’s why we have engineered modern safety solutions into our products. Users can dial emergency services and access Medical ID card information directly from the Lock Screen, and we enable government emergency notifications, ranging from Weather Advisories to AMBER alerts. iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models do not have FM radio chips in them nor do they have antennas designed to support FM signals, so it is not possible to enable FM reception in these products."[/quote]
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