I have been saving for the new iPhone for over six months now. So, when July 11 comes (the debuit of the new version), I will be in line. There are just too many things it will let me do. One of the main things I'm excited about is being able to have a version of my
with me at all times. It has literally been a God-send to me not getting overwhelmed by many balls in the air. So, yes, I will be buying one.
But cell phone providers are getting a little nutso when it comes to data plans...and more particularly, text messaging. I realized how much money telecomm companies were making when I realized Sprint was transferring all my support calls to a call center in Manila. I am calling somewhere in the States. They turn it into an international call. Okay. And now, they are doing the same thing with text messaging. Text messaging puts as little a strain on the system as possible. It's not a voice file. It's so few bits of data, it's like thin air. Yet, the phone companies know they have got you. They know how much you've come to rely on this quick form of communication. So, what are they doing? They are raising the prices of text messaging to profane amounts. The website, CrunchGear, breaks down AT&T's new plans (and it's not just AT&T. Most companies are starting to do this)...
But cell phone providers are getting a little nutso when it comes to data plans...and more particularly, text messaging. I realized how much money telecomm companies were making when I realized Sprint was transferring all my support calls to a call center in Manila. I am calling somewhere in the States. They turn it into an international call. Okay. And now, they are doing the same thing with text messaging. Text messaging puts as little a strain on the system as possible. It's not a voice file. It's so few bits of data, it's like thin air. Yet, the phone companies know they have got you. They know how much you've come to rely on this quick form of communication. So, what are they doing? They are raising the prices of text messaging to profane amounts. The website, CrunchGear, breaks down AT&T's new plans (and it's not just AT&T. Most companies are starting to do this)...
Today is basic math day at
CrunchGear
where we discovered that if 160 bytes of SMS data costs twenty cents then 1MB (1,048,576 bytes) of data would cost 131,072 cents, or $1,310.72.
Check out the prices for a
Check out the prices for a
text message plan on AT&T
, the exclusive carrier of the
iPhone 3G
in the United States. AT&T wants twenty cents ($0.20) per text message if you don’t sign up for a plan. A text message is nothing more than 160 bytes of data. The max is 160 characters, and one character equals one byte of data. Great.
In other words, if AT&T charged data downloads at the rate they charge text messages downloading 1MB of data would cost you $1,310.72.
In other words, if AT&T charged data downloads at the rate they charge text messages downloading 1MB of data would cost you $1,310.72.
So, what's the answer? Stop text messaging? I don't know. 200/mo even seems light. Anyone? Thoughts?
1 comment:
Yes, stop. The only way in our economic structure to convince someone to stop providing a service is to stop using it.
I don't find text messages to be of enough value to pay for them. It's yet another way for someone to scrape my wallet in exchange for a service that we just don't need in life.
Didn't need it before we had it, don't need it now.
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