Strangely enough, despite all the /stuff/ of cellular infrastructure, on roofs and poles in and around cities, the prevailing idea was that mobile phones communicated via satellite and that all these towers were something to do with TV.
I was conscious back then, and I don't recall this particular misunderstanding. Soon after we wondered "what are those things that are mounted like microwave repeaters but obviously are not microwave repeaters?" someone had figured out they were cell antennas. This was before anyone I knew (except my Uncle Glen) had cell phones.
Hmmm, maybe this misunderstanding was a Kiwi thing.
I assumed that was a tweak of his similar joke about in-flight wifi. And since many in-flight wifi systems use a combination of air-to-ground and satellite, it is going to space and back in a roundabout way.
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Strangely enough, despite all the /stuff/ of cellular infrastructure, on roofs and poles in and around cities, the prevailing idea was that mobile phones communicated via satellite and that all these towers were something to do with TV.
I was conscious back then, and I don't recall this particular misunderstanding. Soon after we wondered "what are those things that are mounted like microwave repeaters but obviously are not microwave repeaters?" someone had figured out they were cell antennas. This was before anyone I knew (except my Uncle Glen) had cell phones.
Hmmm, maybe this misunderstanding was a Kiwi thing.
Louis C.K. thinks phones communicate with satellites in space.
http://gizmodo.com/5658560/louis-ck-the-shittiest-cell-phone...
"Give it a second, could ya? It's going to space! Could you give it a second to get back from space?"
Even more common are people who think GPS involves satellites tracking the location of their phone.
I assumed that was a tweak of his similar joke about in-flight wifi. And since many in-flight wifi systems use a combination of air-to-ground and satellite, it is going to space and back in a roundabout way.
The joke is funnier this way. Technical accuracy be damned. That is what we pay comedians for.
Even if incorrect, his point stands.