This has happened at least four times in the last year or so in Atlanta. Amber alerts get treated by many phones as any other emergency alert, and they happen to go out between 1 and 4 am to the entire metro area, so the missing child could be up to 50 miles away. A lot of my friends have turned off emergency alerts completely because of this.

I hear ya... You have to look through the provider's eyes though: What makes more money? Basic, simple cell service that's awesome, or sub-par cell service with overpriced, flashy extras that suckers (a.k.a. most Americans) will want to drool then swoon over?

It's pitiful, I know. But you have to remember that people with technological common sense are a small minority in the US. =(