3 ms·

AM is something I don't normally use, but I depend on in situations like that. It's more reliable than the internet by far too.

ajross 3y ago
It's 100% not more "reliable" than the internet is. AM stations are down regularly, receivers are (c.f. this very article) inconsistently deployed and many users don't know how to use the ones they own. What you're saying is that it's a useful backup for a service that remains imperfect. But if you had to pick just one emergency notification technology for the modern world, it would be mobile telephones. There's really no significant argument there.
- dataflow 3y ago
  > But if you had to pick just one emergency notification technology for the modern world, it would be mobile telephones. There's really no significant argument there. Definitely disagree. Mobile phones have a million failure modes. The only reason I'd choose them is 2-way communication, not reliability of 1-way communication.
  - ajross 3y ago
    Was the last emergency notification you received actually on an AM radio? I was in Taiwan last week during the earthquakes and got them at 2am on my foreign phone via a temporary SIM I got for $9 at the airport. Sorry, there is more to reliability analysis than just analyzing failure modes. Whether or not a technology is productively useful for its intended purpose is important!
    - dataflow 3y ago
      They're useful for different kinds of emergencies. Nobody said one of them subsumed the other. You might as well say "when was the last time 911 helped you? I just used a first-aid kit last week and it saved me from my bleeding."
      - notjoemama 3y ago
        We’re one Carrington event away from coiling our own copper wire to pick up AM signals. I’m unaware of any similar mechanism for internet or cell reception. I’m pretty happy with AM being carried forward. Maybe the FCC could support that by loosening the requirements for registering and operating stations. I’d love to run my own from my house.
- kanbankaren 3y ago
  > receivers are (c.f. this very article) inconsistently deployed What does it mean? > many users don't know how to use the ones they own. Who are these people that don't even know how to turn on a radio and turn a knob?
  - rblatz 3y ago
    It’s been well over a decade since I’ve listened to AM radio, and I couldn’t tell you a single FM station and I’ve lived in this city for 12 years. AM radio is literally not even on my radar as a way to get emergency information. I don’t even think we have access to an AM radio. I’m an elder millennial, over half the country is younger than me. This legislation is absolutely out of touch with reality, and will do nothing but allow the old guard to slow down innovation and force the past on people who have no interest in it and will receive no value from.
    - kanbankaren 3y ago
      I hope you are aware of the failures of other emergency notification systems that have utterly failed like in the recent Maui fires in Hawaii that resulted in loss of life. AM is the simplest mode of communication and one of the reason air traffic controllers still use AM rather than FM or digital codecs for communications.
      - rblatz 3y ago
        Shortwave is e even better, why not mandate that everyone have a shortwave radio if you’re mandating obsolete technology.
        kanbankaren 3y ago
        Well, a AM radio can tune to shortwave too. Besides the sarcasm in your comment, the need is to broadcast over a 100 mile range, not 1000s of miles.
    - cgriswald 3y ago

ajross 3y ago

It's 100% not more "reliable" than the internet is. AM stations are down regularly, receivers are (c.f. this very article) inconsistently deployed and many users don't know how to use the ones they own. What you're saying is that it's a useful backup for a service that remains imperfect. But if you had to pick just one emergency notification technology for the modern world, it would be mobile telephones. There's really no significant argument there.

dataflow 3y ago
> But if you had to pick just one emergency notification technology for the modern world, it would be mobile telephones. There's really no significant argument there. Definitely disagree. Mobile phones have a million failure modes. The only reason I'd choose them is 2-way communication, not reliability of 1-way communication.
- ajross 3y ago
  Was the last emergency notification you received actually on an AM radio? I was in Taiwan last week during the earthquakes and got them at 2am on my foreign phone via a temporary SIM I got for $9 at the airport. Sorry, there is more to reliability analysis than just analyzing failure modes. Whether or not a technology is productively useful for its intended purpose is important!
  - dataflow 3y ago
    They're useful for different kinds of emergencies. Nobody said one of them subsumed the other. You might as well say "when was the last time 911 helped you? I just used a first-aid kit last week and it saved me from my bleeding."
    - notjoemama 3y ago
      We’re one Carrington event away from coiling our own copper wire to pick up AM signals. I’m unaware of any similar mechanism for internet or cell reception. I’m pretty happy with AM being carried forward. Maybe the FCC could support that by loosening the requirements for registering and operating stations. I’d love to run my own from my house.
kanbankaren 3y ago
> receivers are (c.f. this very article) inconsistently deployed What does it mean? > many users don't know how to use the ones they own. Who are these people that don't even know how to turn on a radio and turn a knob?
- rblatz 3y ago
  It’s been well over a decade since I’ve listened to AM radio, and I couldn’t tell you a single FM station and I’ve lived in this city for 12 years. AM radio is literally not even on my radar as a way to get emergency information. I don’t even think we have access to an AM radio. I’m an elder millennial, over half the country is younger than me. This legislation is absolutely out of touch with reality, and will do nothing but allow the old guard to slow down innovation and force the past on people who have no interest in it and will receive no value from.
  - kanbankaren 3y ago
    I hope you are aware of the failures of other emergency notification systems that have utterly failed like in the recent Maui fires in Hawaii that resulted in loss of life. AM is the simplest mode of communication and one of the reason air traffic controllers still use AM rather than FM or digital codecs for communications.
    - rblatz 3y ago
      Shortwave is e even better, why not mandate that everyone have a shortwave radio if you’re mandating obsolete technology.
      - kanbankaren 3y ago
        Well, a AM radio can tune to shortwave too. Besides the sarcasm in your comment, the need is to broadcast over a 100 mile range, not 1000s of miles.
  - cgriswald 3y ago