Please, No Pix Or Calls Until After The Inauguration
So as to avoid the warned-of network outages and delays, The president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association would like all patriotic citizens to "do their part in decreasing network demand by texting instead of placing voice calls, and holding off on cell phone pictures or video until after the events are over." [Washington Post]
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Keeping a running tab of patriotic things to do:
Pay higher taxes
Don't use my phone and spoil Obama's Party
Love my Government
Unedited text of The president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association regarding cell phone usage during today's events:
Yes, please send those $0.25/message texts. It would be very profitable for, err...., I mean patriotic of YOU to not cripple the network. Muwahahahahahahahaha!
Yeah, like this will stop anyone from using their cell phone to call all their friends and say "I saw Obama's limo!!!"
"Please don't use our network as it was meant to be used" is what I'm reading here.
If everyone waited until the inauguration was over, wouldn't that simply mean the networks would crash after the ceremony rather than during it?
@FHJay: President Obama wants absolutely nothing interfering with his blackberry while he sends emails, texts, and photos during his speech.
@Bladefist: But the HOPE, man, the HOPE! It's a small price to pay for HOPE. We need HOPE! We have the strongest economy in the world, one of the highest per-capita incomes, and anyone who wants to work hard can have a fantastic life, but we need HOPE now more than ever! Don't you see?
@Bladefist:
Post stupid comments on Consumerist..the list goes on.
Don't mean to turn this into a political discussion because chances are we could sit here and argue for days and neither of us would give any ground, but the whole "don't use your cell phone" thing has nothing to do with Obama. Read the post and all will be clear.
As for the cell networks, fuck 'em. We pay a cell phone bill every damn month so we can call whomever we want whenever we feel like it. If the networks can't handle it, fuck them.
Hmm, phone call to my wife on family plan is free.
Text to my wife on our family plan is 20 cents to send and 20 cent to receive.
What to do, what to do?
So I should see this time on my bill as a service credit then?
@Lars: Nothing could be more patriotic than paying 25cents per text (since it doesn't use any resources hardly on the network, and is pure profit) rather than trying to use your already paid for minutes...
@ColoradoShark: I know someone's going to recommend you get a text messaging plan for just these occasions in which some cellular overlord tells you using your cell phone to make a phone call is unpatriotic.
I pay $150 a month for AT&T service. Unlimited voice, text, and data. If you think I'm not going to use it, you've got another thing coming. If I can't use it because the network is incapable of performing, it's possible that cell providers need to bring capacity for specific situations like this. Sprint does it for NASCAR races. They have trucks with high speed wireless connections and self-contained cellular switch. Why can't the networks bring in trucks and put up temporary capacity for something like this? Imagine what would happen if a newscaster or reporter flipped open a cell phone and got no service? They might very well discuss that as "news" on their broadcast. If you were a wireless provider, is that what you want for PR?
Because they're too cheap. It would be a strong selling point to say, "Hey, _____ had plenty of capacity during the inauguration." Callers who had capacity would be bragging about it to their friends who don't.
Instead, you have dumb executives who don't know any about how to run a business pleading with the public. Stupid. Really stupid.
@Bladefist: You say this and yet here you are...on consumerist.com...where people fight for their consumer rights...
I thought our patriotic duty would be to take advantage of this opportunity to expose our weak-ass wireless networks for what they are. Didn't we just see examples of the consequences of pretending that weak businesses are actually strong ones?
I don't see what the big deal is. When I lived in a college town, you were pretty much guaranteed that all cell lines were busy for about an hour before a football game, then for about two hours afterwards. It's not the end of the world, though I do agree they should provide mobile signal boosters (or whatever those trucks are called) to increase capacity.
Burn those transceivers up folks, cook their T1's. Keep snapping and sending pix by the dozen. Let the telecoms burn on their own laurels.
I'll use my phone whenever I want and if doesn't work then I'll call them until they give me credit for it not working.
@yikz: Because it is what is technically called "a shitload" of bandwidth to accomodate, and the actual cellular bands aren't all that wide. This event dwarfs any NASCAR event.
@zlionsfan: Detail, please, exactly what you would do.
Let me make a suggestion: Perhaps you would prevent the delay of the digital TV cutover so that the 700MHz band will be freed up for additional services. This, of course, will do nothing for existing devices, which are all crammed into two bands.
If they don't want us to use our phones during inauguration I would like a credit for 1/20/2009, especially since I live only 2 miles from Barackalypse!
Wow, the last time I saw any suggestion within the industry to limit cell [voice] usage was back on 9/11. There was an internal memo sent out to Cingular employees advising them to limit their cell usage and leave the network open for emergency management personnel. I had to then forward the e-mail (sans some proprietary information) to friends and family that were carrying phones at the time.
Text messages typically go through when voice calls will not. I advise people all the time to attempt to send a text if it appears they have spotty network connection or other troubles. However, that floods the network pretty quickly if you begin sending messages to a multitude of people. COW's aside, they are anticipating people out there with their iPhones and such recording the moment as it is happening - either through the cellular or 3G Data networks.
I don't get it. If I were in DC watching the inauguration, or at home watching it on TV, wouldn't I be more interested in actually watching the event that chatting on my cell? I'm not saying it should be like a theater where cell phones are shut off, but my primary focus should be the speeches and whatnot, not talking to my friends about how awesome I am to be at the event.
What's wrong with taking pictures or video? This doesn't affect the cellular network, as these are stored locally on the phone.
@Sam Wille: Last time I checked, the iphone could send neither MMS or video clips. You can jailbreak and record with cycorder and use swirly MMS to send them, but AT&T's MMS is f'ed up, using cingular's wap and MMSC. Pretty much, it doesn't expect an iPhone user's account to connect through.
Anyways, you have to attach it to an email and then send a photo via that. Lot more overhead than a text.
I'm pretty sure, given that the article is from the Washington Post and everything there is talking about local events, that they don't care if someone in North Dakota calls someone in Nebraska, they care about those calls happening in the DC area. If you're going to a major event, do you really need to be on your phone the whole time? Probably not. And if people cut back the extra "look, I'm really here!" picture messages sent to third cousins in Toledo, everybody else will be able to make their necessary calls just fine.
@B: Based on my experiences with most public events over the last 5 years, it seems most people are more concerned with "proving" to other people that they are in attendance. I suppose the actual enjoyment of the event comes later, as one sits back to remember what a great time it was taking pictures and holding one's cell phone up while at a concert.
Digital proof is the new enjoyment!
@Bladefist: You forgot to include: troll message boards using republican bumpersticker slogans. Because the republican party has obviously done such a fantastic job lately.
Not at all - it's just that with such a large influx of people, the available network isn't enabled to handle the calls. 2 million or so extra people on a system that is enabled to handle the population and tourist traffic of DC is not going to work well. If you try to call out, likely all you will get is "all circuits are busy" anyway. And it's not exactly easy or financially responsible to build/update equipment for a one day event.
How the hell is not using your cell phone for what it was meant to be used considered patriotic?! For cryin out loud! Is the nation's security at risk? I imagine many don't even know the difference in etiquette when the National Anthem is being played or the Pledge of Allegiance is being recited but hey don't use that cell phone!
Yeah, please send text messages at 20 cents a message because we didn't bother building a large enough network.
@ClutchDude: So the iPhone was a piss-poor example. While the quality is meh, I can pretty much do that with the Palm Centro. (Copy & Paste, too)
/Santa went Centro, so did I.
//except I was a month ahead of him.
I have to give my iPhone-loving friend trouble because all he can do is snap so-so pics and e-mail them to me. While I have to give props for ease of use to him, it isn't much more than what I have now for less.
@YOXIM:
"As for the cell networks, fuck 'em. We pay a cell phone bill every damn month so we can call whomever we want whenever we feel like it. If the networks can't handle it, fuck them."
Within reasonable limits. Verizon certainly could build a network in DC that could handle the 11:50AM-12:15PM traffic without batting an eye - it would cost a fortune, though, and be a collossal waste.
One would think that if the cell phone companies can profiteer from text messages, they could use that excess money to temporarily boost network capacity.
But maybe that's just crazy-talk.
@Sam Wille: Tried to call/text people on New Year's for 20 minutes before I could get through to anyone.
"B*tch set me up!"
Sent from my wireless BlackBerry device.