Most reliable, my ass.

You know what pisses me off? Not one, two years ago, wireless phone companies were realistic about the chances of their networks surviving major disasters. They warned people that wireless phones were not to be relied on in times of catastrophe, and that a “plan b” point of contact should always be set up in advance if possible.

Nowadays, not much has changed as far as survivability (that’s just inevitable), but the marketing message certainly doesn’t make it seem that way. Wireless operators now want people to believe that their disaster plans can hinge on reliable communications even in times of crisis. If the voice networks go out, oh, we can rely on text messaging to get our messages through. They even provide nice little news graphics that instill confidence, yet have no bearing in the reality of the situation, whatsoever. In fact, one carrier has had their nationwide SMS operation thrown into chaos as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

The wireless carriers need to stay realistic, and keep the public in the real as well. And our fine American Media outlets need to stop buying into this bollocks as well. People got along just fine without cell phones before, and they should NOT change past tried and true disaster survivability plans just because the cell phone companies say you can keep in touch now. No communications network built by humans yet is inpenetrable.

Note: To be fair, the photo above was obtained by attempting to send a text message to a friend in Louisiana whose home was in the path of the storm. That person is a Cingular subscriber, so I am NOT certain how Verizon’s network in Louisiana fared (Cingular, however, appears to be a total wash out). The fact that as of this writing, not a single press release appears from Verizon Wireless reporting on their network status is a bit disconcerting though. I can only assume that either absolutely nothing happened to their network that was worth mentioning at all, or it’s a total loss.