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join:2005-09-28
00000 | Huh? Is anyone else scratching their head wondering why the CDC is tracking this kind of info? I guess the FCC will start tracking the flu next. | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Re: Huh? They track it because household demographic, income, and a flurry of other statistical information changes based on whether a home is cell or landline only...that can seriously impact health-related surveys... | |
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avd706
insert annoying animated gif here
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Union, NJ | Re: Huh? Dewey defeats Truman | |
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| | ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL
| Not to mention the fact that the increase in cell-only households presents other issues in disease control. Suppose you have a serious outbreak that requires immediate notification of all residents in an area. When everyone had landlines, you could call all numbers in a given group of exchanges and be pretty sure you'd reached everyone. With cells, people often move and keep their old number, which may be from an area across the country. How much of an issue is that, and how do you deal with it? That's something the CDC needs to find out. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
 ·Comcast
| Re: Huh? said by ISurfTooMuch  :Suppose you have a serious outbreak that requires immediate notification of all residents in an area. When everyone had landlines, you could call all numbers in a given group of exchanges and be pretty sure you'd reached everyone. With cells, people often move and keep their old number, which may be from an area across the country. I am sure the government, if it needed to send out such a message, could make use of emergency texting. The only problem of course is how do you make sure it is really from the government and not someone trying to cause a panic?
Come to think of it how do you prevent that if the government just tried calling everyone instead? I know that if anyone calls me saying they are from the government, I am quite skeptical.
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GOLFnSUN
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| Re: Huh? said by pnh102 :said by ISurfTooMuch :Suppose you have a serious outbreak that requires immediate notification of all residents in an area. When everyone had landlines, you could call all numbers in a given group of exchanges and be pretty sure you'd reached everyone. With cells, people often move and keep their old number, which may be from an area across the country. I am sure the government, if it needed to send out such a message, could make use of emergency texting. The only problem of course is how do you make sure it is really from the government and not someone trying to cause a panic? Come to think of it how do you prevent that if the government just tried calling everyone instead? I know that if anyone calls me saying they are from the government, I am quite skeptical. Isn't that why they have radio and TV and the "Emergency Broadcast System" ??? You don't call everyone in a city on the phone. You put out a broadcast on TV.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page | |
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| | | | | TACSPEED
Premium
join:2001-04-14
Tacoma, WA
·Advanced Stream
| Re: Huh? I rarely listen to the radio and watch very little TV. I also have text messaging disabled on the my prepaid cell phone.
However if they posted the information on the Internet, I would probably see it.
So the emergency broadcast system needs to include the Internet now.
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Fiber Optics is the future of high-speed internet access. Stop by the BBR Fiber Optic Forum. | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | I have text messaging disabled on my cell phone, however, carriers can override it. Eg. I will still get a message or 2 from AT&T.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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| | | | | tbone2006
join:2006-07-22
Abilene, TX | Our city just implemented a reverse 911 system. It is supposed to call everybody in the affected area including the whole town ~100,000. That is as long as you still have landline. | |
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avd706
insert annoying animated gif here
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Union, NJ | Re: Huh? they didnt have to. Every station was broadcasting info. They were qafraid a EAB would preempt local coverage. (ps: as i type this im in a path train stuck at the wtc train station) | |
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tmh
@qwest.net
| said by ISurfTooMuch :Not to mention the fact that the increase in cell-only households presents other issues in disease control. Suppose you have a serious outbreak that requires immediate notification of all residents in an area. When everyone had landlines, you could call all numbers in a given group of exchanges and be pretty sure you'd reached everyone. With cells, people often move and keep their old number, which may be from an area across the country. How much of an issue is that, and how do you deal with it? That's something the CDC needs to find out. With cellphones, that's even easier. Just broadcast a text message to everyone within range of cell towers in the affected area. That way, even folks who are just visiting will get the message. GSM phones already have the capability to receive localized broadcast messages, I can't imagine CDMA doesn't have a comparable capability.
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| | | cahiatt
Premium
join:2001-03-21
Smyrna, GA
 ·AT&T Southeast
·dock.net
 ·BroadVoice
| Re: Huh? said by funchords : Everyone wants to talk about how odd it is that the CDC is the best source for this communications statistic. Probably the most reliable stat also. Cableco's, Telco's and wireless providers not throwing money at them or fake pollsters..... | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
1 edit | It's really not that strange if you understand polling and statistics.
»www.scientificamerican.com/blog/···09-03-11
Wireless-only folks differ from those who still keep a landline, Blumberg explains. Not only do they skew younger, but they behave differently, too. Introduce those differences into health surveys, he says, and the results are biased.
Half of wireless-only users are under 30 years of age, but the greatest predictor of whether they rely solely on a cell phone is if they own or rent: renters are four times as likely to be wireless-only as are people who own their homes, Blumberg says. On top of that, they're more likely to live in metropolitan versus rural areas, and in or near poverty. I'm not sure why people's minds are so blown by the fact that government agency tasked with collecting accurate health information tracks landline/mobile trends to ensure accurate polling data... | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Re: Huh? I didn't think about that but yeah, it does highlight how even the government realizes its own data (FCC) isn't worth much... | |
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| jmmilner
join:2001-11-20
Yorkville, IL
| said by battleop :Is anyone else scratching their head wondering why the CDC is tracking this kind of info? I guess the FCC will start tracking the flu next. As most readers here already know, the FCC is part of the government in name only. Given they are really a taxpayer funded arm of the major carriers, why would anybody trust any statistics they produce? In my book the CDC is a far more credible source, even for information that seems to fall in the FCC's sphere. | |
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captnk
join:2001-03-07
Valparaiso, IN | And we wonder We wonder why our government is inefficient. This is not the CDC's job | |
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cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27 | Re: And we wonder Landline/cell number data is accurate in demographics, info...
CDC NEEDS to know population numbers and thus...
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Weeeeeeee! | |
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| | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: And we wonder said by cableties :Landline/cell number data is accurate in demographics, info... CDC NEEDS to know population numbers and thus... BINGO! Also, they use the information to possibly contact people in a given area just in case. | |
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Bit
Premium
join:2009-02-19
00000 | Re: And we wonder Yeah, cause no one owns a radio or TV set. | |
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| | | | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: And we wonder said by Bit :Yeah, cause no one owns a radio or TV set. I have yet to see an Emergency Broadcast System message on any of the pay channels or on many of the cable TV channels (Discovery, Disney, ESPN, etc.)
As for radio, my house rarely has the radio on except in the early morning for traffic reports and local news. My stereo is only used for my home theater setup. Same goes for a friend of mine down the street who has 2 kids and they are always either on their iPods or video games. | |
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Bit
Premium
join:2009-02-19
00000
·VOIPo
·Cox HSI
1 edit | Re: And we wonder On my local cable system I see them on pay channels all the time. EAS tests are weekly and I see at least 2 of them a month. When we had the big brush fires a while back every basic cable channel had an ongoing EAS crawl. And during very heavy rain we get NWS warnings via EAS interrupting cable programming detailing flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings. I've seen them on every cable channel except HBO. ESPN, USA, CNN, all my cable channels get EAS tests and alerts. During an actual alert, all my channels are interrupted with EAS audio and a big red crawl.
There is no CDC warning that is immediately critical like a tornado warning is. The EAS and traditional local news channels are fine for notifying people about school closures and other actions to take. | |
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| | | | | | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD | Re: And we wonder I have yet to see them on either of the cable systems I have used. (Comcast and Verizon FIOS.) | |
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PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03
·CableOne
| said by Bit :Yeah, cause no one owns a radio or TV set. I only watch Tivo'd programming, days after it's been recorded. The local radio here totally sucks, so I only listen to prerecorded material. This is a rural farming community, so most folks aren't near a TV or radio during the day, either. If something was broadcast at noon, it would only reach about 20% of the population.
However, almost everyone has a cell phone. The best way to notify everyone around here would be to mass text every phone connected to every tower in the vicinity. Possibly inform recipients to visit www.cdc.gov/xxxxx to provide more information and of course verify the validity and authenticity of the text. And even if they're out of range of a tower (as I said, rural community), they'll still receive the message as soon as they get into service again. That would reach about 80% of the population, which would quickly spread the word to the other 20%.
And of course, the message could STILL be broadcast on TV and radio. Also, they could ask local ISPs to do an emergency DNS redirect to the aforementioned website, so anyone surfing the web would see the message. | |
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S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL | I think I'm going to MPAA lawyers to sue you cableties for copyright infringement on my avatar! | |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by captnk :We wonder why our government is inefficient. This is not the CDC's job How is it inefficent. I think is IS efficent. They are doing 2 things at once. appearantly you rather haveadditional government employees calling peole backa dn finding out if they have landline or cell phone. which cost MORE tax payer dollars. | |
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Bit
Premium
join:2009-02-19
00000
·VOIPo
·Cox HSI
| Re: And we wonder Who in this country hasn't heard of pig flu? Everyone has a TV set or listens to the radio. There are way more efficient ways of reaching people.
Let the CDC use the local EAS if they have to send out an alert. That is why we have the EAS.
This is just more gov't hacks trying to justify their existence and wasting tax dollars doing it. | |
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| | | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: And we wonder said by Bit :This is just more gov't hacks trying to justify their existence and wasting tax dollars doing it. ..and BINGO was his name-O! | |
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NetAdmin
CCNA
join:2008-05-22
| The task of tracking cell phone/land usage is much easier than you think, especially when it is combined with the other demographic information that is collected in the National Health Interview Survey.
So, no, this isn't government being inefficient at all.
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"This is a bus. You know how big a bus is?" | |
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hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium
join:2005-06-29
clubs: | humm Ok i guess with a report like this all the bells could ask for bailout money then and get it.  | |
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| fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: The LEC's cannot stop the pig party! How is the cost of delivering a ground based communications service dropping? The cost to employ is on the rise overall. The age of the system is out there.. and, telephone termination and all the other fees are still way up there. If you micromanage the numbers, sure you can make an argument that they may be dropping, however, in reality, the price will always continue to climb.
There's still one thing that remains the same always and that is the fact there is a line that connects you from one point to another. That line will always be there for ground based services, even going VoIP. (VoIP data has to travel still) ... the cost to operate and maintain a network will always be there and is labor intensive. What you push through the pipe is another story. However, if I look at the numbers, I take everything into account.. | |
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major marco
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
clubs:
| Landlines will always be around and in California, any time there is any little hiccup -as in a tiny, little quake that caused zero property damage- cellular service goes out for hours after the fact because everyone and his dog are trying to call someone. I don't care if the entire state converts to mobile phone only. I'll still have my landline. | |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Another ASSumption article from someone wanting attention... Um, the "recession" is "accelerating" the death of landlines?
... doubt it. It's coincidental statistics. There was already a movement that was already on the move. Further, they way they collect their data, to begin with, is incredibly ignorant. If a patient is asked for a phone number, they ask if it's cell or home phone. I get asked the same question, I give my cell. Does that mean I don't have a home phone? No.. it just means that I want my doctors to know they can get a hold of me.. I don't know about others, but my health is important enough that I want to hear the "news"..
Further, this is ridiculous on the same fact as most other "eureka!" moments in statistics.. They see an increase in so-called cell phone only homes and look for something else that happened at the same time, oh, such as a recession, and "ASSUME" that it must be the recession that caused it. Well? Obama was destined to take office about the same time, so I think Obama caused the surge, the 3% surge, in cell phone only homes so that must be the cause.
These kinds of "findings" are why white wine is good for you one year, and bad the next. By the way, speaking of that, Diet Coke is good for you again.. drink lots!!
Seriously,.. the government tracking anything?? They take some data somewhere.. mix up the numbers and some politician gets their pet bill going.. the data is only as good as people are willing to give it up.. god knows the providers don't want to share it. | |
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RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY
| Re: Another ASSumption article from someone wanting attention... said by fiberguy :If a patient is asked for a phone number, they ask if it's cell or home phone. I get asked the same question, I give my cell. Does that mean I don't have a home phone? No.. it just means that I want my doctors to know they can get a hold of me.. I agree. Giving out a Line Line number is only useful if you want to be reached when you are at home. Giving out a Cell Phone number means you are reachable where-ever you currently happen to be (ie: 24/7). Now if you happen to have Voicemail or an Answering Machine on your Land Line that picks up when you are not there and says "I am not here. To reach me call my Cell Phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx." that is another issue (assuming that your caller does not just give up trying to contact you and just hangs up or leaves a message instead of actually falling back to calling the cell phone). | |
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larrylane
@co.za
| Cell phones replacing landlines When forced (maybe for financial reasons) with a choice between cell and landline the only real choice would be to continue with cell usage and let go of the landline. The convenience and low cost of especially prepaid cell phones makes them the only viable option to stay in contact. Previously the only reason I had a landline was because cell phones seemed unreliable. But I must say, my NET10 prepaid phone has such good reception that this is not a concern anymore. And I will definitely not miss the marketing (and polling) calls on my landline either. Besides, I'm out of the country for such extended periods of time that I literally paid for something that was just sitting there. | |
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snipper_cr
join:2002-01-22
Wheaton, IL
clubs:
| More on CDC I love how more than half the topics so far are about the fact the CDC did this survey... good chuckle. Happy friday everyone!
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The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
PPL/CPL:IA;ASEL/AMEL. CFI:ASEL | |
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OCP
Premium
join:2004-10-11
USA
| Cell phone preference This story makes me want to switch from a landline to a cellphone. Well, a little. The sound quality and reliability of cellphones make me want to keep the landline. I have both for now, but I rarely use the cell. I also tried VoIP/SIP and Skype.
It is odd to come from the CDC and not the FCC. I guess the FCC is busy working on the H1N1 vaccine. I probably stole someone else's joke. | |
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| Reese1517
join:2003-09-02
Hazel Park, MI | Re: Cell phone preference I got my trusty Comcast phone and Metro cell phone. Had to use the e911 on the Comcast phone and it save a life in our house. | |
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Madness
A flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
| I actually went back to a landline! Seeing people out in public blabbing away on cellphones like they haven't a care in the world is a real turn-off! Those driving while doing so, scare me. Best of all, I've been paying about ten bucks & some change for both it & dsl for about 8 months, now.
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No keyboard present or keyboard error. Press <F1> to continue.... | |
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Recession Accelerates Death Of Landlines
The LEC's cannot stop the pig party!
The Local Exchange Carriers cannot stop the pig party. The cost to deliver service is dropping while the LEC's are still run by Bell Heads. The have not gotten the message that unless they reduce voice line prices and eliminate the hidden charges like the central office connection charge they might find themselves in the same position as Ice Delivery Companies and Stables, a quaint memory.