There is no such thing as a "reliable" device for rescue. Activating a SPOT of PLB does not mean you'll be rescued. It doesn't even mean you'll be recovered.

If I needed help and had a SPOT, a PLB, and a cell phone with me, and the cell phone got reception, that's what I'd use first and I can't see how that would make me more pathetic than if I'd chosen one of the other devices.

I can certainly see how communicating with rescuers using a cell phone would make their job much easier.

All things considered (including the fact that I do not own a PLB or SPOT), I'd say it would be pathetic if I owned a smart phone and didn't have it with me when it would work and I needed to call for help.

It would certainly be pathetic if those two kids would have died out there. Rescuers are either volunteers or professionals, in either case no one is forcing them to go on rescue missions. They can quit anytime they want too, but as a function of society I think their mission is a noble, worthy, and respectable one.