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College Students Turn Away From Landlines
prostoalex writes "You're as likely to find a landline in a college dorm as you're an old typewriter, according to this Washington Post article on MSNBC. While roughly 30% of college students had a cell phone 5 years ago, more than 90% have them today, resulting in student directories including out-of-state numbers instead of 4-digit extensions. More trivia on college students: 90% own a PC, 65% have broadband, 62% own a stereo system, 74% have a DVD player, 55% have a gaming system. What the Washington Post article also hints at, is possible tuition hikes due to the landlines dropped so quickly. "Six or seven years ago, telephones on campus were a cash cow," said Glenn Gaslin of Morrisville State College in New York."
I hate businesses that assume that you will buy certain services from them because they deem them 'essential', and when all of a sudden you don't, they jack up the price of the services you still do buy from them...
In this case, tuition will go up because they stop making money on landline sales??? How about my damned cable company (or phone company) that charges me an extra $10 a month because I just want a highspeed internet connection but don't want their cable offerings or long distance plan?
How can they get away with this BS? It's like those computer stores that 'cash discount' their prices... Play on words to get around rules that prevent them from jacking up the price because you wanna pay by credit card...
Aren't there laws against this sorta crap?
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Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
As technology moves on, there's not a lot else to be expected really. The cheap and widespread availability of wireless communication means that more students will be inevitably taking the easier option; who wants to be tied down while making a phone call?
To be frank, a change like this doesn't count as news, it's enevitable with evolving technology that things will change. This is just one of the many steps that are happening towards the much larger changes that are bound to come.
'"Six or seven years ago, telephones on campus were a cash cow," said Glenn Gaslin of Morrisville State College in New York.'
And here we see a basic problem. Trying to earn more than a fair return because you have monopoly power in a certain situation.
They should never have been a cash cow in the first place, just a service provided to students with a modest rate of return.
all the best,
drew
FreeMusicPush If you want to see more Free Music made, listen to Free
With most of the major carriers offering free minutes for calls between *any* of their customers (not just those on a family plan), is it any wonder that so many students are showing up with cellphones? I was expecting to see commentary about carriers linking up with campuses in advertising arrangements. I would expect Verizon and Cingular/AT&T to turn campuses into battlegrounds reminding everyone that all calls to any other user on their network is free all day, every day, encouraging the students to convince their friends to all use the same carrier.
I remember using the community phone in the dorm hallway 16 years ago. I'm shocked that practice went on for another 11 years!!
Intelligent Life on Earth
Why not have students get a University sponsored cell-phone with a few special features:
1. push-to-talk capability within Univ phones
2. free instant messaging within Univ phones.
3. Bluetooth and/or cable for internet access using the cell phone.
4. Free calling to/from a student's home town.(this would need a DID in student's home area code)
I'm sure there are more features that student's would love to have and be willing to pay for. Also, a cell phone company would love the contract to be the sole supplier to a college campus.
--Keith
I spent a fortune in books in my first year.
By the second year I'd wised up that:
(a) most lecturers didn't even use the books, and those that did gave out photocopied notes.
(b) for homework purposes the library had several copies
(c) half the books were written or co-written by the lecturers an they were getting a cut.
So for the second year I bought no books at all. Didn't miss them.