By Evan Ackerman
You can make a cell phone call from the top of Mt. Everest. They’ve got internet on the ISS and even further. So it seems like the only places left that you can’t have something more important that you should be doing are caves, and the ocean, but Ocean Reef has gone and ruined a whole bunch of that with their underwater cell phone. Learn how, after the jump.
I mean, seriously now. An underwater cell phone? Why on earth in the water would you want or need something like this? Okay, I can understand that maybe it would be nice to be able to talk to another diver, assuming you bought a couple of these systems and got decent cell reception wherever you happened to be diving. But what do you really need to say besides, “come look at this fish!” Or “wet enough down here for ya?” Or “gadzooks, I seem to have been eaten by a shark!” ‘Course, if that last one had happened, it probably would have severed the cable that connects you to your phone, which sits safely on the surface. Yeah, there’s no super cool technology here, just a glorified underwater Bluetooth headset that’s attached to your cell phone (voice dialing only) with a 40 meter long cable. Your phone, meanwhile, gets its own little waterproof case and life preserver and floats comfortably on the surface, where it’s likely to get seasick and throw up its SIM card.
This convenience (or whatever) doesn’t come cheap at about $1800, which doesn’t include the cost of the phone itself. If I were you, I’d spend that amount on a sweet BCD, regs, and wetsuit… Or for that matter, a trip to someplace like Fiji.
[ Ocean Reef ]
[ Skymall ] VIA [ RGS ]
So, who will be the first to get tangled in his cell phone cable and drown?
I know you might be joking in your review. But from the point of view of a diver. If you are hurt and can't swim to the top. Calling for help would probably be a great thing to be able to do. I mean if you a diving in shark infested waters, you can (hopefully) program HELP to call y9ur buddies diving with you and the local coast guard. It's hard to know something is wrong with a diver, since you can't see below the water after a bit of distance from the boat.
Also I hope that it would have a safety feature if the line is broken and it wasn't by turning it off, it calls for help to be sure.
Interesting idea, but normally when diving you are looking to get away from the drone of life and enjoy time without being tied to this technological world.. Much like when caving..
Cell service everywhere has officially “jumped the shark” – will they be putting cell service in Mammoth Cave next? I suppose they could adapt this for the people who are buried with their cell – just slap it on top of the headstone…
A diver should never ever be diving alone. So if something does go wrong, your buddy takes you to the surface, where someone there will definitely be able to call in help.
True, thus the “call your buddies diving with you” 😉 But with your situation you stated. During that time of them taking the injured person up to the surface they could already be calling for help. When seconds count, wouldn't it be nice to not waste any.
A diver should never ever be diving alone. So if something does go wrong, your buddy takes you to the surface, where someone there will definitely be able to call in help.
True, thus the “call your buddies diving with you” 😉 But with your situation you stated. During that time of them taking the injured person up to the surface they could already be calling for help. When seconds count, wouldn't it be nice to not waste any.