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Hmm. The early parts of the article (and the headline) says "calls", but further down it says "calls, texts and voicemail". Surely if you get a text saying "H

Hmm. The early parts of the article (and the headline) says "calls", but further down it says "calls, texts and voicemail". Surely if you get a text saying "Hi, it's mountain rescue, you haven't reappeared, wassup?" you'd take that seriously?

sideshowb 5y ago
Do you read every text you get the moment it arrives?
- dukeyukey 5y ago
  90% of texts are read within 3 seconds of arriving on your phone, with a 98% open rate altogether: https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/07/27/marketing-with-98-percent-read-rate-and-10-more-compelling-stats.html#gs.e2scqg https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/07/27/marketing-with-... So yes, I do.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    But also by hikers? When I hike I have my phone tucked away. I hike to explore nature and take a break from the digital world. I use it as a satnav sometimes but I try to rely on my sense of direction unless I'm really stuck. It helps build situational awareness and enjoyment of the environment. Phones are not that reliable in such areas anyway and I carry a Garmin InReach satellite communicator for emergencies. Also, not sure where this happened but here in Europe nobody uses texts anymore. The only ones I get are spam. Everyone uses WhatsApp or similar services. I have about 30 unread texts on my phone right now and they're all spam. I have notifications for them turned off :) Edit: ah I see it's in the US. I heard texts are more common there still because of iMessage being used a lot and falling back to SMS.
    - TeMPOraL 5y ago
      > Also, not sure where this happened but here in Europe nobody uses texts anymore. The only ones I get are spam. Everyone uses WhatsApp or similar services. Depends on country. Here in Poland, SMS is still widely used, though WhatsApp is gaining popularity at an annoyingly high rate. I still get some real messages, but >80% of texts I get are delivery notifications, appointment reminders and 2FA codes.
      - ASalazarMX 5y ago
        This is my fear. Spammers already have our phone numbers, so spam through WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc. is just around the corner.
  - sideshowb 5y ago
    > 90% of texts are read within 3 seconds of arriving on your phone ... So yes, I do Well that's one way to avoid the ecological fallacy!
- phreeza 5y ago
  No, but I don't not read text messages because I don't know the sender.
- tomp 5y ago
  Send a text then call, from the same number. That way you cover all the bases.
mshroyer 5y ago
My phone is configured to send texts from any numbers not in my contacts to a "junk" folder so they don't disturb me with a notification. Unfortunately, this really is necessary given the amount of junk texts (and calls) my phone number receives. I could see myself ending up in the same situation as the subject of this story if I were out hiking and I got slightly off course, but I weren't in fear of being truly lost, and if meanwhile the rangers were trying to call me from a number I didn't recognize. One possible solution: For areas requiring permits to hike, make adding the park's phone number to your contacts a requirement to hike in the park. The reality of the spammy telephone system in the United States is that expecting people to notice calls from unexpected numbers is unreasonable. (Or just require everyone to carry satellite locators in parks. I don't think we're too far off from that being economically feasible.)

sideshowb 5y ago

Do you read every text you get the moment it arrives?

dukeyukey 5y ago
90% of texts are read within 3 seconds of arriving on your phone, with a 98% open rate altogether: https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/07/27/marketing-with-98-percent-read-rate-and-10-more-compelling-stats.html#gs.e2scqg https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/07/27/marketing-with-... So yes, I do.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  But also by hikers? When I hike I have my phone tucked away. I hike to explore nature and take a break from the digital world. I use it as a satnav sometimes but I try to rely on my sense of direction unless I'm really stuck. It helps build situational awareness and enjoyment of the environment. Phones are not that reliable in such areas anyway and I carry a Garmin InReach satellite communicator for emergencies. Also, not sure where this happened but here in Europe nobody uses texts anymore. The only ones I get are spam. Everyone uses WhatsApp or similar services. I have about 30 unread texts on my phone right now and they're all spam. I have notifications for them turned off :) Edit: ah I see it's in the US. I heard texts are more common there still because of iMessage being used a lot and falling back to SMS.
  - TeMPOraL 5y ago
    > Also, not sure where this happened but here in Europe nobody uses texts anymore. The only ones I get are spam. Everyone uses WhatsApp or similar services. Depends on country. Here in Poland, SMS is still widely used, though WhatsApp is gaining popularity at an annoyingly high rate. I still get some real messages, but >80% of texts I get are delivery notifications, appointment reminders and 2FA codes.
    - ASalazarMX 5y ago
      This is my fear. Spammers already have our phone numbers, so spam through WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc. is just around the corner.
- sideshowb 5y ago
  > 90% of texts are read within 3 seconds of arriving on your phone ... So yes, I do Well that's one way to avoid the ecological fallacy!
phreeza 5y ago
No, but I don't not read text messages because I don't know the sender.
tomp 5y ago
Send a text then call, from the same number. That way you cover all the bases.

mshroyer 5y ago

My phone is configured to send texts from any numbers not in my contacts to a "junk" folder so they don't disturb me with a notification. Unfortunately, this really is necessary given the amount of junk texts (and calls) my phone number receives. I could see myself ending up in the same situation as the subject of this story if I were out hiking and I got slightly off course, but I weren't in fear of being truly lost, and if meanwhile the rangers were trying to call me from a number I didn't recognize. One possible solution: For areas requiring permits to hike, make adding the park's phone number to your contacts a requirement to hike in the park. The reality of the spammy telephone system in the United States is that expecting people to notice calls from unexpected numbers is unreasonable. (Or just require everyone to carry satellite locators in parks. I don't think we're too far off from that being economically feasible.)