"New technology has its limits....." Yes, indeed

learning curve stuff..lets see how this works out in a few years.

So... dumbphones?

If your phone is smarter than you are, stay out of the woods.....

WWYPD... What Would Your Phone Do?

LOL! Love that!

I think that may be the crux of the problem - too many people are letting their technonolgy do their thinking for them. Complacency is one of the biggest risks there is.

look on the bright side, at least they were able to call for help.......

Isn't your Subject a bit misleading? Not a 50% increase in rescues but rather a 50% increase in false 9-1-1 calls.

(Sorry for nitpicking)

"Hello, 9-1-1? Yes, I forgot my cushiony insoles and my feet are starting to hurt. Can you have someone from SAR fly them out to me in one of those rescue helicopters they got just sitting around?. Thanks, appreciate it, have a nice day."

Sorry everyone, I couldn't resist.

Hmmm...by the title it looks like smartphones have resulted in 50% more people surviving. That would be a good thing!

More like;

"Hello, 9-9-9? Yes, I forgot my cushiony insoles and my feet are starting to hurt. Can you have someone from SAR fly them out to me in one of those rescue helicopters they got just sitting around?. Thanks, appreciate it, have a nice day. Oh and can you make sure Prince William is flying the helicopter."

"Sorry love, he's on leave, apparently he's getting married at the end of the this week."

"Darn!!"

LMAO at AFLM

That's how I read it.

Wrong number in UK it is 119, LOL.

cheers

We went on family road trip this weekend and it shed a little light on this problem. DH and SD depended on their smart phone GPS systems for navigation. Because we never left the pavement, set out with a general idea of how to get where we were going, stayed on major highways and roads we got there, despite both systems failing. One stop to ask a guy for directions and one called to a relative for back-up directions cleared things up, but I couldn't resist saying "I told you so" when I reminded them that if it were up to me, we would have used a good 'ol paper map.

It seems that too many people take the same approach when they go off-roading or to remote areas. In this scenario, we had lots of options but sometimes those disappear quickly. Technology can be great but it can also fail you. Put too much faith in it and you can get in trouble but if you still have the cel signal you can call in the calvary.

Why exactly did the phone gps systems fail, mine hasn't failed yet so I wonder what circumstances it might.
Are there phones on a bad network like AT&T or not good phones?

Now there is a good example of:

• One is None
• Two is One
• Three is minimum

Glad you made it to your destination and that the cell service was working even if GPS wasn't.

I think your point is good. In regards to the axiom above, sometimes I think people think they need to have three of the multiple of the same thing, and in some cases it makes sense.

For other things, it's not that one should necessarily carry three of the same item, it's that one has alternatives, like a paper map.


buckeye

Disgraceful! Never, never, ever ask for directions! That's what maps are for! I feel your husband's pain.....

I've tried to stop and ask for directions here and there over the years and never received reliable directions.

LOL@ Hikermor! I was speechless! And to Eugene's point, the directions were a little off but close enough.

We were going from a major city to a little town outside a major city so little risk other than a late arrival.

You're absolutely right, Buckeye. I don't know what happened to their gps systems. We were outside of Ottawa in an area that hadn't had power for 3 days but I don't imagine that had anything to do with it. They were on two different major Canadian networks and they just seemed to get stuck for a little while. I'd never rely solely on it in a more remote or wilderness setting.

2 is good and 3 is better is a great mindset but when it comes to navigation, an alternate, manual system like a paper map back-up makes a lot sense. In this case it wasn't crucial but I can certainly see why the number of calls for rescue has gone up with people who depend on that technology.

The UK emergency number is 999.

In most of Europe it is 112, and that will probably work here too. It's probably the one to memorise if you are travelling in Europe and want a single number, but few British people would use it here because 999 is what we trust.

Wikipedia says that 119 is the emergency number for Korea, Japan and some other places (unless you want the police, in which case it is 110). In France it would get you to a child protection line.

Dialing the american "911" number will probably get you in contact with some kind of emergency service in many European countries.

This isn't just to be kind to vititing American tourists. The dial-911 response is something of a popular culture icon due to the influence of American films. I would guess that there are more non-US people that remember "911" than has learned their own national emergency service number.

lol

HJ

I heard today that school libraries are starting to close. Apparently some schools feel that the power of the internet is king and there is little need for paper books anymore. Orienteering class will no-doubt see map and compass replaced by GPS - or worse. Thank goodness for Scouts!

There is a whole new dependacy on battery powered items, they are great when they work and a real serious letdown when they don't!

I this week just got my first "smartphone", I think they are called that because they make me look dumb! I can make a call, I can enter a contact and even setup and recieve email, but is it worth the cost over all? I will see, won't I!

I will say that the batteries are definately a potential issue on the phone. My old phone would stay charged for about a week with minimal use, at least 2 days with normal use. This new gadget was dead in less than 20 hours and I never made a single call. I only did setup, recieved a few emails and texts and called in to activate the phone. That will be hard to keep charged on a trip!

Don't forget to pack the signal mirror, map and good baseplate compass, the battery powered toys are fun but finicky and may only operate in the "paperweight mode" when the battery goes down. Cheers!

Even with a non smartphone I made the habit to always keep it charged. At night it gets plugged in to the charger sitting by my bed, always have a vehicle charger and carry a spare charger.
With microusb being the industry standard now its even easier, I have auto to USB adapters, wall to usb and various lengths of usb cables so I can plug in anywhere.

Don't apologize Mark it happens quite a lot!