Feedback: this comment might have fared better if it hadn't contained completely unnecessary insults.
Basically, we don't have a warning system anymore, because the pieces that are left are mostly being dismantled (sirens, tv and radio) and all they seem to want to replace it with is an app that doesn't reliably work when the network is fine.
Lets be honest, if catastrophy should strike here, we would be last to know.
And then the whole radio clusterfuck. AM radio got totally torn down years ago to "cut costs", there's always discussions to dismantle plain old FM radio too and only serve DAB+ instead, which doesn't have nearly the buildout level compared to plain old FM radio.
I'm sick of this shit. Three decades and all what we had went down the drain. It's the same for coronavirus response - back in cold war times we had massive rolling stockpiles of everything, especially of PPE... but again, it all got eliminated to "cut costs".
What would you use it for? And why would having one that worked over AM or even FM be worth anything? People don't buy those radios any more. What difference does it make?
What you're describing sounds like a massive white elephant that was probably worthless even in the cold war. A proverbial safety blanket.
Radio is important because it's so widespread and low-tech. Pretty much every car has a receiver that can run for ages, there are inexpensive emergency ones that can be powered by crank and solar, so even in prolonged power outages, as long as the stations remain powered, and someone in your neighbourhood has a working receiver, it's still useful and pretty low-cost, since the infrastructure is already there.
Many young people don't even own a radio or TV any more, and even more own one but don't use it regularly.
> Websites will have notices
That assumes that a) the Internet is still up everywhere (by the way, same problem with the apps crap) and b) that people are 24/7 surfing on news websites.
> I'm entirely unclear why you'd need an emergency broadcast system? Or place so much emphasis on its importance?
To announce there is something going on and people to have a look at the TV/radio for more information. That's all.
> And why would having one that worked over AM or even FM be worth anything? People don't buy those radios any more. What difference does it make?
AM radios are incredibly cheap to build - all you need is a loop, a tunable capacitor, a diode, a fixed capacitor and an earphone. When I was a kid I had one as a "build it yourself" kit for children. FM radios are more complex but are literally everywhere - many cellphones have them, virtually every car built after the early 50s, kitchen appliances, bathroom radios, classic radios... DAB/DAB+ radios are relatively new, in fact they are only required to be present in cars after end of this year. And in contrast to AM/FM it is almost impossible to build one out of basic components yourself.
> What you're describing sounds like a massive white elephant that was probably worthless even in the cold war. A proverbial safety blanket.
There's more need than just a war for an EBS. Stuff like "the power plant nearby is leaking radioactive gas", "the industrial plants are on fire, close your windows", "there's an earthquake predicted, cover yourself", "flooding immanent" or "active terrorist case with a shooter on the run, stay indoors" is some things that I can easily imagine.
Total communications collapse - It would have to be over night and total for there to be ANY worth to FM/AM radio. It won't be. It's seems unrealisitic to pretend some sort of Walking Dead scenario would ever be real. If it did happen, the government would also somehow have to still be magically in control of the FM/AM broadcasters.
Urgent Alert - The governments around the world have been organising nationwide lockdowns virtually overnight using existing channels. I just don't see much value even if there were something 'urgent', as it's clear people get alerted pretty quickly about this stuff.
Just how often did we have widespread Internet outages because someone fucked up a BGP entry again? It's incredibly easy to barf up the Internet, all you need is a way to put crap in the global BGP database. Terrorists, nation-scale actors, cybercriminals all have this ability. In contrast, an emergency AM/FM radio service can be done without anything connected to the Internet - plug a microphone in the input line of the radio signal generator and you are on air.
Also, power outages are not unheard of, even in Germany. As said, FM radio does not require much power to receive it.
AM even more so, although AM transmitters can be really power-hungry if you want to cover an entire country with one of them.
East Germany had a fully working siren network as well. And it was tested every Wednesday at 1pm.