Gregory's Server@jwildeboer I think a lot about the fact that we all have pocket communicators with many different radios in them, but if disaster ever strikes, none of them can communicate with each other. The more I think about it, the more it feels like a sign of a world gone mad.
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 Other than the Briar Project, I know of nothing that addresses handset to handset direct comms. And no one I know is even vaguely interested in it and few, other than activisty tech types, even think the idea has value. It's maddening. castoff phones on thrift stores, wifi only even, no sim, have more computing power than most people had in 1990. And no interest in them except as commodity platforms for whatever it is we do.  @tomjennings The totally weird thing is that Apple implemented such a thing with Airdrop. It was used in the Hong Kong protests to distribute warnings and calls for demonstrations. Ultimately Apple had to change its implementation after pressure by the Chinese government. @simon  @jwildeboer @tomjennings @simon Did not know about Apple changing implementation - now I wonder how long I’ve been assuming Bluetooth where there was actually an internet involved. @tomjennings  @tomjennings @simon @jwildeboer Didn't Nokia build something similar into a couple phones back then? (~20 years ago) @tbroyer @tomjennings @jwildeboer My mother was funny about smartphones so I didn't get one until I was an adult. I completely missed the Nokia era. It wouldn't surprise me though. There was also this weird thing from the year 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38VEBOseAzM But what would have been the commercial and government/regulatory incentives to make this happen? Telcos want to be able to charge you, and governments like knowing where you are and who you talk to.  @MonniauxD @simon @jwildeboer There are some technical reasons also. Cellular networks (and coordinated deployment) are very, very efficient and can provide stable services (and QoS). Meshed networks and ad-hoc deployment work at a different operating point. |
@simon Do have a look at Briar.
https://briarproject.org/
Though it’s a shame that such functionality isn’t *mandated* for every mobile sold.
@jwildeboer