Commentary From Elsewhere: Federal Emergency Alert System
Recently there was a test of the Federal Emergency Alert System. You may have noticed this, as the test covered multiple delivery methods. I heard about it in the news, but I did not encounter the actual test message.
The test covered TV, Radio, and Cell phone. Good spread there. You’d think that would get most everyone. But…
TV
I do not have any TV’s. Enough computer monitors, and some of them could serve as TV screens, with the right setup. But none of them are standalone TV’s, nor are they currently configured to receive TV broadcasts. While I watch shows from time to time, that’s all online. How many others have tossed the TV in favor of the internet?
Radio
I do own a radio, of the FM/AM variety (disregarding that WiFi, Bluetooth, etc are all technically radio). But it’s used as an alarm clock. If I turned it on, I’d just hear static. Yes, I could spin the dial, at which point I would expect to hear a radio station. But it’s been a few decades since it’s been used for music. It may no longer be functional in that regard. As with TV, when I want to hear music/news/etc, I go to the computer/internet. With all the online music/news/podcast services, who else has put aside their more traditional radio?
Cell Phone
I do have a cell phone, and it was on at the time of the test (and all week for that matter). I have taken steps to minimize junk received on my phone, which would include all the notifications like this. But it sounds like this one should bypass my efforts. Yet no test, be in as a tone, text, popup, etc. Not around 2:20PM, or any other time. Which, interesting enough, also includes the previous test a few years back. I suspect I know why too.
Despite it being a cell phone, my phone is rarely on the cellular network. It is almost exclusively in airplane mode and connected to my WiFi network. As the WiFi router it talks to sits a few feet from where the phone normally sits, this does great things to the battery life. No need to broadcast to the tower (wherever that is), just the box within arms reach.
When I’m on the go, I might switch my phone out of airplane mode, so it can talk to the cell tower. But usually, if I’m out doing something, I wouldn’t want to be distracted by the phone anyways. If anything comes in, I can deal with it when I’m done with whatever I was doing. Which usually means being back at a known WiFi location.
Having read various sources for information on this test, it does sound like it doesn’t go to phones in airplane mode. Which has me wondering, how many people use local WiFi and thus regularly leave their cell phone in airplane mode?
Which is all a way of saying, tests are good, as they let us know what works and what doesn’t. But if there was an actually emergency? I wouldn’t hear about it from this System. How many other people would also fall into this category? Am I unique, or does a decent chunk of the populace use similar practices?
Although, I did hear about it from word of mouth and news articles. Does this mean the test was successful, even if not directly?