The ski falling story has been making the rounds. And I can certainly see skiing as a fertile source for false fall detection alerts. I would (try to remember to) disable it if I were downhill skiing if I otherwise had it active--which I don't. (And really haven't decided if I should or shouldn't.) But I also haven't actually seen data that this is a genuine problem much less one that is overwhelming emergency services and causing widespread carnage.

As for the satellite SOS, actual search and rescue people I've talked to have been of the opinion that they'd rather someone who is in trouble or thinks they're in trouble reach out for help sooner rather than later. It doesn't mean a full-scale rescue needs to be mounted. Someone can often be talked through what their problem is. It's also not like people didn't already have this capability so long as they were in cell phone coverage.