Assuming this does happen one day soon, then the mobile phone could replace the SPOT and the PLB/EPIRB (in theory, at least). So my question is this...
If the mobile phone did everything it currently does, PLUS everything the current SPOT and PLB/EPIRB does, and if the mobile phone did it all just as well as the SPOT and PLB/EPIRB in every way, AND if the SPOT and PLB/EPIRB were phased out entirely, then...
- would you carry a mobile phone as an emergency notification device while bushwalking?
- would you use it to phone home while bushwalking?
- would you leave it in a state where it can receive phone calls while bushwalking?
Currently, I carry a mobile phone with me when walking not because I want to phone home, but because it is good for telling the time, it includes a GPS, and all my maps, etc, etc. I most definitely do not want people to be able to phone me when I'm bushwalking, and always disable the cell network on the phone while I'm walking (which also saves a LOT of battery drain).
However, I have found myself on one occasion just past Frenchmans Cap where I found there was excellent network coverage (even without 3g) and I phoned my wife and had a good chat (I was 4 days into a 6 day walk).
Personally, I find that being uncontactable is one of the best things about bushwalking. There's no way I'd leave the cell network function on all the time while bushwalking. I don't know if I'd be likely to phone home regularly or not. I certainly would NOT do it daily, but I do it occasionally on a very long walk - maybe every 4 or 5 days. But even then it would detract from the remoteness of the walking, and therefore somewhat diminish the experience, I think.
I guess another question that's related would be...
If you currently do NOT carry a SPOT, PLB/EPIRB now, would you carry a mobile phone if it was an ideal emergency notification device in the future?
I currently do NOT carry a SPOT or PLB/EPIRB (yes, I should, but I don't). But I would certainly carry a mobile phone in the future if it was the ideal emergency device, as a smartphone is already a much more useful device for so many different reasons - it is more of a handheld computer that happens to include a phone application than a phone that does lots of other things.