Why is it that my pictures from my phone can be automatically uploaded to the cloud, yet, in this day and age, this can’t be done with an airplane’s Black Box data, rather than looking for these bo…
The cloud is internet based. Your phone uses wifi or cell phone towers. Neither are available at 35,000 feet over the ocean.
The Short Answer
The cloud is internet based. Your phone uses wifi or cell phone towers. Neither are available at 35,000 feet over the ocean. All transactions would have to be via satellite and this would involve significant cost for the installed hardware. At any moment there might be 5,000 aircraft communicating with satellites. This capacity does not exist so more satellites would need to be launched. It is quite likely that anything that caused an aircraft to crash would also render such a communication system non-functional. The blackbox is very basic technology so it can work right up until the destruction of the aircraft.
Analysis
Key Concepts: Aircraft, phone, satellites
This explanation focuses on aircraft, phone, satellites and spans 100 words across 8 sentences. At 33% above the average Technology explanation (75 words), this is one of the more thorough answers in this category, reflecting the complexity of the underlying question.
What This Answer Covers
The explanation opens with: “The cloud is internet based.” It then elaboratesultimately building toward a complete picture across 8 connected points.
How This Compares in Technology
Ranked #141 of 500 Technology questions by answer depth (top 29%). This falls in the detailed tier — above average depth. The explanation goes beyond surface-level but keeps things accessible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a simple explanation for why it that my pictures from my phone can be automatically uploaded to the cloud, yet, in this day and age, this can't be done with an airplane's black box data, rather than looking for these boxes after a horrific crash?
The cloud is internet based. Your phone uses wifi or cell phone towers. Neither are available at 35,000 feet over the ocean. All transactions would have to be via satellite and this would involve significant cost for the installed hardware. At any…
How detailed is this explanation compared to similar Technology questions?
This is an above-average answer at 100 words, ranked #141 of 500 Technology questions by depth. The key concepts covered are aircraft, phone, satellites.
What approach does this answer take to explain it that my pictures from my phone can be automatically uploa?
The explanation uses root cause analysis across 100 words. It is categorized under Technology and addresses the question through 1 analytical lens.