"The Internet was originally designed to network messages around areas of devastation, agilely re-routing them anywhere, under any circumstance. So, why won’t our cell phones work when we need them most, if the nearby cell towers fail in a disaster? During Hurricane Katrina a quarter of a million people were cut-off, with sophisticated-but-useless radios in their pockets. Even worse, almost nothing has been done, since then, to correct a potentially devastating design flaw. But let’s imagine. What if mobile phones were empowered to simply pass along text messages, from one to another, via peer-to-peer packet switching, all the way out of any affected area? (Until finally reaching an intact cell tower.) This simple bypass capability could ensure coast-to-coast messaging, even during substantial nationwide havoc. It would cost little to implement and the cell companies needn’t suffer any loss of revenue. (Not if their billing departments have any imagination, at all.) In fact, failure to implement such a simple fix could constitute deliberate sabotage, since its potential benefits, during any disaster, are simply overwhelming."