Re: NDAA passed: Internet and Online Streaming Services Emergency Alert Study

[Rich Kulawiec <rsk () gsp org>]

On Mon, Jan 04, 2021 at 09:08:06PM -0600, Billy Crook wrote:
> Then again how many people would benefit from adding this to online
> streaming, but don't already have cellphones that have emergency alert
> popups that get their attention.  The kind of people who don't have
> smartphones are going to be the ones still watching bunny ears television
> anyway.

I've worked in science and technology for a long time, and I've chosen not
to have a smartphone.  Not that I have to justify this decision to you,
but: (1) I spend a fair amount of my time in environments with poor/no
connectivity (2) I participate in activities that are likely to result
in the destruction or loss of the phone and (3) I use my phone...for
phone calls and the occasional text.  So spending $40 rather than $800,
avoiding the morass of privacy/security issues involved in a smartphone,
and maximizing available battery life seems like the best move.

I know others who've made the same decision for similar reasons.

---rsk