5 ms·

So, the guy was 25 in 2017, he's a millennial himself. Let's see what has been truly killed... BTX, dial-up, ISDN, pagers. But ham radio? I don't think it's g

So, the guy was 25 in 2017, he's a millennial himself. Let's see what has been truly killed... BTX, dial-up, ISDN, pagers. But ham radio? I don't think it's going to be dead anytime soon, because as long as the lower EM frequencies are not legally blocked by some other services, everyone can build and use their own tx/rx. And even then, nobody can stop the use of EM for communication, it takes some time to locate the source.

Nextgrid 6y ago
All those technologies died because they were replaced by something equivalent/better. The only reason ham radio is not dead is because it has a hobby around it, just like ISDN wouldn't be "dead" either if there was a hobby around it and people were building/maintaining ISDN networks for fun. In terms of practical use however, both ISDN and ham radio are near-useless to the majority of people, and the problem ham radio is facing is a lack of new people joining because ultimately, the benefits it offers (such as the ones you list) aren't problems the majority of people are facing (and the people that do are a minority that wouldn't be enough to sustain such a social hobby that also relies on real-world meetups to trade radio gear).
- doctor_eval 6y ago
  Nonsense. The difference between ham radio and most other telecommunication technologies is that all you need for ham is al allocation of spectrum and a couple of radios. ISDN and other legacy telco technology will disappear because they require a bunch of expensive, obsolete infrastructure - copper pairs to the exchange, the exchange gear itself, and the inter exchange trunks all cost real money in terms of support and maintenance. Spectrum is shared and costs nothing to maintain. There is certainly an opportunity cost of assigning spectrum to ham versus some other use, but that’s very different to the cost of maintaining obsolete physical tech to support a few hobbyists.

Nextgrid 6y ago

All those technologies died because they were replaced by something equivalent/better. The only reason ham radio is not dead is because it has a hobby around it, just like ISDN wouldn't be "dead" either if there was a hobby around it and people were building/maintaining ISDN networks for fun. In terms of practical use however, both ISDN and ham radio are near-useless to the majority of people, and the problem ham radio is facing is a lack of new people joining because ultimately, the benefits it offers (such as the ones you list) aren't problems the majority of people are facing (and the people that do are a minority that wouldn't be enough to sustain such a social hobby that also relies on real-world meetups to trade radio gear).

doctor_eval 6y ago
Nonsense. The difference between ham radio and most other telecommunication technologies is that all you need for ham is al allocation of spectrum and a couple of radios. ISDN and other legacy telco technology will disappear because they require a bunch of expensive, obsolete infrastructure - copper pairs to the exchange, the exchange gear itself, and the inter exchange trunks all cost real money in terms of support and maintenance. Spectrum is shared and costs nothing to maintain. There is certainly an opportunity cost of assigning spectrum to ham versus some other use, but that’s very different to the cost of maintaining obsolete physical tech to support a few hobbyists.