So what does that leave you with? People who own smaller boats and go out fishing on the ocean or the middle of a lake who want to have a backup in case the radio on the ship goes out? Maybe people who have some small hunting cabin out in the middle of nowhere. Is there really enough people like that to justify the costs involved? And if this were something that was coming, don't you think people would have found traces of it in the iOS 15 betas by now? Seems like it would be hard to hide support for a new modem chip and there would be other signs of it scattered throughout.
I think you don't watch "I shouldn't be alive"; it's normal people who take a trip to a remote desert/jungle/island and get lost. Most people will be ok to pay a little insurance like fee for satellite access (just to send SOS, gps-beacon kind of thing) in case of emergency. That is for 99% of times you use only the cellular towers but in a rare situation you have access to satellite.
without getting any benefits for it
They can still vote in elections, by mail. Another important benefit is that they can come back anytime, and if they get in trouble that isn't of their own criminal behavior the state department is there to help.
I think if you commit a crime, US can get you back and convict you. Not sure what exactly the law says but I think just like you get protection from the system, you can also be punished for wrong-doing. If I am citizen of xyz (and not of US) and commit a crime in xyz, only laws of xyz applies to me.
I think there's a world market for about five computers. -- attr. Thomas J. Watson (Chairman of the Board, IBM), 1943
