I might have mentioned earlier in the week that the mobile phone network was not very good in Cumbria, and how I found myself connected to the network of the Isle of Man at one point. Considering the number of visitors to the region - which must number in the millions each year - I think the poor service is unforgivable, as indeed is the quality of many of the road surfaces.
But this technical problem brought a moment of humour.
While walking around Wast Water we met a lady who had been trying to get in touch with her husband who was walking in the nearby mountains.
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| Wasdale Screes |
She acknowledged that was no phone signal, but she exclaimed that she was surprised that a text message would not send anyway!
It reminded me of the mobile phone story in the post last month '
Will we ever know?'
I guess U shaped valleys are not really conducive to mobile phone signals. Maybe there should be a tower on the top of Helvellyn? Just imagine the storm of protest!
ReplyDelete...strange isn't it that the more remote a place is, the more useful a mobile signal would be and of course the more remote the possibility is of getting a signal...
ReplyDelete...now funnily enough, I can often get text messages through/and receive them too in places of bad signals when I can't actually get a signal to talk...and the opp is also true...
Hilary (using anonymous cos so much easier)
Thanks for the 'follow' John. Yes it would spoil Helvellyn, and it would probably get blown over a couple of times a year!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised today how many people at work said they wished that there were more areas with no signal. Several mentioned blighting the landscape too. But these days there are so many ways to conceal antennae - after all it is one thing that church towers could actually be useful for!
To all those who want a signal free area I have one bit of advice. Turn you b****y phones off if you don't want to be called! :)
@Anonymous Hilary - agreed - texts use much less band width than voice and what you say is true. I don't think that's what that lady meant though.
ReplyDeleteI remember the days before mobile phones when no one expected to be able to contact you when you were out and about. Easy to recreate as P.E. suggests by turning the phone off or better still not taking it with you.
ReplyDeleteStrange though that nowadays people take umbrage if you do so!
Why should we be contactable 24x7?
I agree - I came off Twitter by the way. - attempting to simplify my life. It's scary how much I use the computer :)
ReplyDeleteHow times have changed from the industrial revolution to the digital... what next?
ReplyDeleteMaybe, It depends on the place where you can get a very high signal to our cell phones.
ReplyDelete