In article , Leo
writes:
This follows on the lines of the thread that Mike and I have commented
on previously, so here goes:
On 18 Jan 2004 20:34:05 GMT, (Len Over 21) wrote:
Alternative Universe Probable Truisms - [continued]
8. The Federal Communications Commission would still exist on
approximately the same scale and still trying to privatize
commercial operator testing to save money. Radio use by
non-hams after 1934 grew sufficiently large to require the
agency to continue.
I believe that they would, along with IC and all of the other national
regulatory agencies. It's a vast spectrum, and most of their energies
are directed towards management of the commercial sector.
That's where the majority of users exist and that is how it should
be (to me).
9. "CB" would have been created anyway, a fore-runner of the
license-free personal radio wave of the future. [it is 46 years
old in our universe which already has FRS, R-C, cordless
telephones and wireless gizmos of all kinds]
Probably - people love to communicate! Folks would have seen the
cabbies, police and other commercial operators using 2-way radio
equipment, many ex-military guys would have experienced using the
technology first hand, and would have wanted the same type of system
for themselves. (in the pre-cellular telephone days, anyway...). And,
if there's a market, somebody would have developed it!
Did you say "market?" :-)
One in three Americans has a cell phone subscription; according
to our Census Bureau. Yet, a decade earlier we all got along just
fine with a relative handful of cell users. With the marketing blitz
still on-going for cell phone handsets, various user plans, all sorts
of attachments (including a little hands-free earphone-microphone
with its own little two-way radio), I'd say the marketeers have
pretty well established that side of telephony.
One in three Americans means a quantity of about 100 million.
At the end of 2004 some forecasters have predicted a worldwide
cellular telephone useage of over 2 billion units!
Think of it...2 billion little two-way radios...and not a single user
is required to test for any license or know morse code. :-)
And NONE of them "owe" any technology even remotely to
"amateur radio pioneering or innovation." Many U.S. hams speak
with contempt of the VHF and above region ("shack on the belt"
is a typical comment of our remaining newsgroupie bus driver).
Cell phones (in the U.S.) run at 900+ MHz.
People DO love to communicate, obvious to anyone at an airport
(among many venues)...even in supermarkets. Should be nothing
wrong with that except for the few that insist, nay demand, terrible
adherence to HOW the communication is done...along with
"official granting" of license, a permission to communicate. :-)
10. Tens of thousands of electronic/radio hobbyists would be
bereft of Title, Status, Privilege of the Royal-equivalent.
Amateur Radio License that allowed them to add a callsign
behind their names to show how good and expert they were in
"radio." That would make it a bitter scene with many more
fights of the amateurs (minority) with professionals (majority).
Personally, I don't view my license as a measure of my expertise in
the art of radio. As my examiner told me when he shook my hand after
I passed the test - it's a license to learn.
Nothing more.
I think that is a mentally healthy outlook on a recreational activity.
Obviously some Ham Lifestylers in here will disagree. Those love
to endlessly self-enoble themselves as "members of a service,"
apparently thinking they are an asset to the nation. They are simply
making an asset of themselves.
I am greatly amused by the U.S.A. population's apparent NEED for
royal titles of any kind, status, position, quasi-nobility, and all other
alphabet soup kinds of name add-ons. Was only 228 years ago that
the U.S.A. declared itself "free" of royalty. Yet, here we are now with
some desperately clinging to a "higher royal class" of labeling. :-)
For those cling-ons, the U.S. amateur radio "incentive plan" was a
godsend establishing all those classes of license. To them the
incentive was to "upgrade" so they could sneer with contempt at all
the lower forms of ham life. Many still do, more's the pity. [some
have a visceral need to attack the preceived inferior ones, a mental
sickness which I doubt will cease in any form of human activity...:-( ]
Nice discussing something with you, Leo. [others will disagree...:-) ]
LHA / WMD