[EAS] A rogue EAN

[Clay Freinwald]

Unfortunately, these days, the KISS principle is lost. 

This the basis of the battle between "Bling'  and Keeping It Simple (KISS).
We have all become so accustomed and/or dependent on systems and devices
that are feature rich, but lack redundancy and reliability.    

A great example of this is our smart phones.   These wonderful inventions
are full of 'Bling' and those that have and depend on them fail to
comprehend that they are about 24 hours from becoming useless door-stops in
the event of a long duration power outage.    

 I recall a meeting I had in an emergency operations center with a young
person that demonstrated how clueless these folks are.    The discussion was
dealing with communications and public information after a major earthquake
(remember we are supposed to get the 'Big One' our area anytime).   This
person was using their experience with their smart phone as their guide.
They noted that it works every day, without fail, and assumed that this
would be the case - regardless of the severity of the event.      When
others in the room explained that this would not likely be the case, they
became flustered.    We then asked where they would get their information
then...
They replied - Television.    I explained that this would not likely be the
case, adding the question if they had a generator and/or a battery powered
TV.   I then asked if they would check their Radio...Their response was 'I
don't use radio'!

The folks in EM are pretty well trained in situations where - 

> There is warning of an event
> Normal communications systems are operable after the event.

They are usually clueless regarding what to do when these conditions are not
met.    In response to this I wrote a story called 'Fred and Wilma'.    I've
delivered this at several Emergency Management meetings....The expressions
in the room are very telling.

Clay Freinwald

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 03:55 PM, Richard Rudman <rar01 at mac.com> wrote:
>So, some of us really believe that amplitude modulation broadcast radio
will still be for a while the technologically simplest and most reliable way
to transmit and receive life safety information when all else fails. The
bright, shiny objects of digital technology are great when they work. When
lives and property preservation depend on those objects with no fall back
system, we are in trouble.

>Richard

And on this point (and many others, I'm sure), I'm solidly in agreement,
Richard! Medium Wave AM radio, like paper maps and compass, is still the
best, if not the prettiest option available to do the job at hand.

Dave

__________________________________________________________
The EAS Forum Discussion List is hosted by the BWWG (Broadcast Warning
Working Group). The Core members of the BWWG are Adrienne Abbott, Clay
Freinwald, Suzanne Goucher, Barry Mishkind, David Ostmo, Darryl Parker,
Richard Rudman, Gary Timm, and Sharon Tinsley. http://eas.radiolists.net
Please invite your friends to join our Forum! The sign up is at:
https://lists.radiolists.net/mailman/listinfo/eas
___________________________________________________________