Yes, MUO is not intended for the geekcore, but for people who want to make use of the technology all around them and understand it a bit better.

There’s nothing worse than turning a pleasant place like MUO into a slanging match over an article that wasn’t written in DoD White Paper standards.

I’m fully aware of how all this works and I like to read other people’s takes on the subject and, as such I thought it was fairly obvious who the article was aimed at. I’m sure the others would have too; should they have read it at a reasonable distance instead of atop their high-horses.

Still, I thought it was fairly intro into the subject. Thanks.

The common public misconception that satellites are used to track cellphones is one that is perpetuated by media. So if you are an average joe that wants to know how satellites are used to track cellphones, what would you type in the search engine? Maybe something like, “How do satellites track cellphones.”

I suppose I could have made it plainer by saying in the first paragraph, “They don’t. Phones track satellites.” However I felt that was a very awkward way to say it and would push readers away. Instead I chose to ease them into the information that cell phones track satellites and cell phones then calculate their own position based on trilateration.

“your phone needs to be picking up on at least 3 satellites – 4, or more, is better”

“phone receives a constantly streaming signal, from the satellites”

Not once do I say that the phone sends any information to the satellite.

If you can give me such a detailed reiteration of what I’ve written, then this article doesn’t apply to you. Why? Because you know the question put forth in the title is invalid to begin with.

If it makes you feel superior to pick apart technical articles intended to educate the curious non-engineer types, I suggest you spend your time writing letters to Popular Science and USA Today, maybe to every studio that made a movie where satellites DO track cellphones.