naomi's phone

[islander]

sorry if this was covered earlier, but what's the scoop with the phones the freighter people are using? are phones like that available today? they seem pretty advanced to me with their iPhone like touch screen and built-in multiple GPS indicators.

[agmic]

arn't they called "satelite phone" ????

[TheCAD]

Yeh...Sat phones are available.
Not sure if there is anything exactly like the phones on the show. The technology is there though.

I always love how GPS is treated as some sort of magic on TV shows and in movies.

You just turn the thing on and it will tell you where whatever you are looking for is!

[wetdogsmell]

Steve Jobs must be in charge of the Dharma Initiative! Where else could they come up with such cool stuff but on a mysterious tropical island with special qualities?!? HAHA

[bunnydixon]

yeah i thought it was a sat phone too - looks very fiddly though!

[islander]

FWIW i searched a bunch of sat phone websites and most sat phones look like a beefed up cell phone.....nothing looks remotely like what the freighter folks are using.

[bunnydixon]

it always make me think of jurassic park 3 when they use that phone as i am sure they had a massive sat phone in that? it was enormous!!

[Robo42]

i think there phone has some encryption and nav equipment to help plot bearings. Not that it matters for the show, but thought I would add.

[NZlostie]

check out www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Sat_phone
detailed description of what's known about the Sat Phones on LOST

I don't know why the losties aren't able to phone anyone else apart from Freighter. I thought there is no limit on distance for making calls from a Sat Ph. Is it cause there is a block to only call the freighter or is it cause it's low on battery?

[justjoe]

Have at it.

http://search.cnn.com/search?query=lost%20satellite%20phone&type=web&sortBy=date&intl=false

[islander]

thanks justjoe....so do you figure the sat phone on the show is a 'futuristic' device? why not just use a currently available sat phone?

[justjoe]

Sure thing. I think it's a specially developed sat phone that is needed in order to deal with the time differential.

[awsnyde]

Sure thing. I think it's a specially developed sat phone that is needed in order to deal with the time differential.

Good point. Actually great point. I had been wondering why there was a time differential when Faraday ran his experiment, but they seemed to be able to speak real-time between the island and the freighter; and your explanation of the phone actually solves that (assuming some weird science, probably non-realistic in the real world--but I can suspend disbelief on that point).

[TSOL1]

Dont things get smaller as they get more advanced? That thing looks like a cell phone from the 1988. :)

[bunnydixon]

Sure thing. I think it's a specially developed sat phone that is needed in order to deal with the time differential.

i like this idea as that answers my communication question quite nicely :D