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.

Comments

Ridiculous

[P0ltergeist333]

If you REALLY believe Obama got elected because he had more money, then you have already drank the kool-aid. Unlike Republicans, who are blatant about their unwavering support for their corporate benefactors (see Dick Cheney and no-bid contracts for Halliburton KBR, et al), the honest Democrats only agree to give their benefactors a fair hearing. I think it is apparent that Obama is a honest Democrat. A prime example is the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights. This bill did not even make it to the floor when Republicans controlled the legislative branch, but it was passed and signed into law under the Democrats, despite the Republicans tacking on completely unrelated legislation.

Obama got elected because Bush took Republicans' empty rhetoric to it's logical conclusion and the majority of American people finally saw that it was WRONG, and got motivated to right that wrong. It started in earnest in 2006, when the Democrats took the House and culminated in 2008 when they took the Presidency and Senate in 2008. To say that it was campaign finance reform is just RIDICULOUS, and disregards plain facts, but that is the hallmark of Republican rhetoric.

Put away that wide paintbrush, your covering up all the detail.

And I think it would be prudent for many of you to remember that if it wasn't for the 'common idiots' that stormed the beaches at Normandy, flew suicide missions alongside the RAF, and died on unknown beaches in the Pacific, you would be speaking German and / or Japanese!

Re:Ridiculous

[Chibi Merrow]

Dick Cheney and no-bid contracts for Halliburton

Halliburton was a no-bid supplier for the US Military since the early Clinton Administration, if not before then. Dick Cheney had nothing to do with it. Thanks for putting that tidbit of idiocy at the beginning and saving me the trouble of reading the rest of your dribble.

Re:Take back the seconds

[foniksonik]

Ask the average french public transport worker how much they enjoy their metrics. I suspect they would laugh at you and then complain all the louder about how much of their paycheck is taken out to pay for all of it... especially when they are working but 20% of their fellow citizens who still get all of the benefits do not and never intend to.