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David Pogue Wants to Take Back the Beep
David Pogue has distilled into useful form a long-standing complaint I have (and one reason I have long had a voice mail greeting that asked people not to leave me voicemail): cell phone companies set up the greeting, caller instructions, and playback system prompts in large part to maximize their revenue per user; by his calculations, the "mandatory 15-second voicmail instructions" from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and others is earning those companies something near a billion dollars a year in charges. Pogue suggests that users should "take back the beep," and to that end provides contact information for the largest cell carriers in order to register a complaint — and, more helpful in the short run, suggests ways in which to make better use of paid-for phone minutes by alerting callers how to bypass the annoying instructions.
As far as leaving a message for others, does anyone really leave longer than a 45-second message anyway (keeping the total under a minute)?
Mothers.
Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
Why can't we stand up to big corporations here in the US?
Because you're not a bunch of socialists who hate capitalism?
Crap, there's shit dribbling out my ears again...
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Get a real phone plan, or one from a decent provider. AT&T just capped my rollover minutes when I hit something like 4000 (in just 2 years on the minimal 700 minute a month plan). Does anyone really have a plan where they regularly go over their monthly allotment, and it's not cheaper to get the next tier?
If the 15 seconds is too painful, read up on the options to skip the message. As for the man up comment - that goes for you, too, Timothy. And while we're at it, why don't you go ahead and turn in your geek card for not knowing you could hit # and skip right to the beep.
Yes, I am in a foul mood this afternoon; thanks for asking.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
This is what happens when your campaigns are privately financed and not on level playing fields (e.g. same budgetary restrictions per candidate).
This is what you get when you let the peasants vote: the one with the bigger campaign wins.
Back when I had an old two cassete answering machine, there was a switch to limit an incoming message to 30 seconds. Only one blowhard ever exceeded the thirty second limit, and she was the reason I turned the switch on in the first place.
Hey, I programmed that system. That message is prepended to the menu anytime the menu changes. Exactly one week after the message has changed the system automatically changes the menu to remove the prepended message. There's no way that message constantly appears.
*checks logs*
Wait a second...
Your ad here. Ask me how!
The really, really funny bit is that the #1 crusader of all time for "campaign finance reform" - John McCain - got buried by it.
Just mash all the buttons to be sure. The worst that can happen is you beep back at the person for beeping at you. It'd serve them right anyways.
My webcomic
The paranoid ramblings of a deluded old man shouting at hippies from his black sweatpants?
The article says that Apple demanded it. However, this is slashdot, and we all know that can't be true. Apple never does anything that would help the customer...
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
You've got a right to bare arms...
Wow, I've got to remember to bring only long sleeved shirts when I travel outside the US from now on. Thanks for saving me!
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
And having spent plenty of time in France and in the US, I really doubt they have a higher standard of living by any sane metric.
People not going bankrupt from medical bills?
Bare arms is funny
Yeah, but so's the right to bear arms, if you ask me. I mean, why the f*** would I want bear arms? To maul someone with?
And doesn't the bear have more right to them than me?
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
When metric is the law, no more pints of beer.
Yes you get 0.5L glasses, which are bigger! What is not to love?
Only if you're talking about those teensy little American pints (473ml); the imperial pint, as used in the UK, is 568ml- quite a bit more than half a litre.
;-P
Yeah, that's right. We've got the big man-sized real pints, whereas the size-obsessed Americans can't even beat the European half-litre. Ner ner ner-ner ner!
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
I will switch to the first carrier that kills the answering machine lady.
Nah, just replace her with a voice with a nice, sexy Slavic accent, "Please to press 'one' for the English."
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Well, there is the €U. And there is ¥apan too. ^^
Even £ondon joins the club.
P.S.: The Euro sign is the only one not accepted by Slashdot's system. (I used "€".)
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
But how am I supposed to criticize the UN? They don't have any S's I can turn to dollar signs!
How do you know?
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
If you can get them away from the bear, I think you more than deserve them.
Comment of the year