3 comments

  • andyjohnson0 40 minutes ago
    The distances and remoteness mentioned in the article are impressive. And is the human need and ingenuity for communication. It reminded me of William Gibson's description of 1950s farmers in the US using metal wire fences as radio antennas.

    In the 70s and 80s (and probably before) in the UK, the BBC used to broadcast occasional "sos messages" [1] prior to the main daily news summaries on FM radio - for people who were away from home and, for whatever reason, uncontactable. They usually related to a relative being dangerously ill. I remember hearing them on my parent's car radio on summer camping trips.

    Obviously the uk is a small and quite densely populated island but, without two way personal communications, some needs were similar to those described in the article. It changed a lot of things.

    [1] https://swling.com/blog/2012/09/radio-4-and-now-an-urgent-so...

  • bookofjoe 1 day ago
  • successdraftee 43 minutes ago
    Interesting. I wonder how missed calls work.
    • eesmith 0 minutes ago
      The article mentions that some messages, like a death notice, are sent multiple times, and gives an example of how a listener can pass on a message to people to others.
    • doublerabbit 23 minutes ago
      A goat comes charging and rams it's horn in to the back of your leg.