This video was taken by a private flier based close to Edinburgh, the commentary given by my colleague was mainly intended for the benefit of other fliers operating out of Glenrothes/ Dundee/ Perth/ Cumbernauld etc who regularly fly in to the Edinburgh CTR close to the airfield.
By all means phone prior to departure from airfields further afield but if you are going to be working Scottish FIR then the likelihood is that they will pass us your details anyway.
The idea of squawking 0440 and listening out on 121.205, when flying close to Controlled Airspace is an excellent one. It is not to reduce controller numbers. It is a way of allowing private fliers the freedom to operate without having to talk to ATC, whilst providing the controller with assurance that, should they need to talk to you and/ or you stray in to controlled airspace then you are available to contact immediately. One thing private fliers may not be aware of is that the separation minima applied by controllers depends on whether an aircraft is identified or unknown. If you are identified we can use traffic information for VFR/IFR or 3 nm/ 1000 ft for IFR/IFR. If you are unknown then we have to use 5 nm / 5000 ft in all circumstances. In a tight and busy approach environment that usually means an infringement of controlled airspace is likely to lead to a loss of separation and lots of paperwork.
One other thing to bear in mind is that the bases of controlled airspace are determined by the local QNH so if you are on a cross country flight underneath controlled airspace, with the regional pressure set in your subscale, then you will always be flying higher than your altimeter is reading. This can lead to unexpected airspace infringements.
As to the clunkiness of EFPS, I've had a mobile phone and a tablet as well for a number of years now, think I've forgotten how to write.