My first thought - why would slashdot go to a British newspaper for Australian news. Surely, the story would emerge locally in Australia first and it would be picked up there.
Then I realised it wasn't worth wasting much thought over - newsfeed churnalism wins again. Someone in Estonia could be reporting about the outbreak of small pox across the Americas and it would just churn through the interwebs until someone pointed out it was bullshit - and by then no one would care - they'd have moved on to the next stupid novelty story.
To clarify maxume's point above. Phone plans are designed on two basic principles; - people like free stuff - people don't want to see a $2000 bill ever so they are willing to pay for more than they actually use
the result are what's called a "cap" plan in Australia. It's basically a means to bundle a whole heap of "free" airtime on top of a monthly amount paid by the customer. (i.e. get $350 on a $49) plan. This is highly popular because people think they are getting more than they need. The trouble is that the rates are inflated so they churn through the cap faster than they would at standard rates which does risk a blow out in spend. The thing is most people don't spend anywhere near as much as they think. This conservatism results in people paying more on a monthly basis than they need for a service they don't use.
and this stuff sells in Aus! i work for a small mvno that went live with phone plans with standard monthly charges and rates and they didn't sell. we switched over to cap plans and watched phones walk out the door. People want this stuff. And phone companies count on it that people don't know what they really need so they go conservative and jump on a higher plan above what they might need.
I suspect that an investigation into an individual rate might be a waste of time since a reduction in the rate would not really alter the structure of this type of plan or the intent of the us carriers.
I've made some big assumptions here (i.e. that the plan structures operating in US are fundamentally similar to Australia). I know nothing of plan structures available in the us. but I don't think i'm too far off the mark with the intent of the phone carriers.
Hi
I don't tend to post very often... in fact at all, but I do feel very strongly about this issue.
Taco hit the nail right on the head when he said that there are too many people out there who have tthis "You owe me" attitude. It's really sickening.
Yes of course this attitude is nothing new. Farken duh! But that doesn't make it right. I'm primarily a gamer, but I enjoy tinkering around with Linux and Perl. Mostly my exposure to this "you owe me" attitude comes from gamers who completely refuse to play any game they can't get as warez. Basically if a new game is released, it's like "so can i get an iso off you?" to which i usually say "go fuck yourself"
I'm not a crazy pro-purchasing stuff nut who has too much money to waste, but I've never believed in something for nothing. If I put blood sweat and tears into some work, I'd like to think something is gonna come back to me... It can be cash (very rare and unlikely) it can be food, a favour, or a compliment. Most of the time I'm happy with some positive feedback... but it makes it worth while.
Anyways my point is that I like to think that if someone does something right, I give them the credit they deserve. And I take that as far as... If I get a warez game (I mean who hasn't got one or two or 50 in their collection) and I like it to the point that I'm playing it often, I'm going to go out and buy it. It's giving the developer the support they deserve. Yeah you can talk about big companies and lots of cash and blah blah blah whinge bitch moan. But fuck it. What it comes down to is cold hard cash. If a venture isn't profitable, you're a tool to stay in it.
I'm not right up on all the open source stuff. But I know that companies are only in it for the money. This is ok by me. That's what companies do. Larger companies are complex structures and decisions are rarely made without consideration of market position, costs, revenues... all that shit. Individuals however should be in it for more idealistic reasons. I see open source development as contributing to build something better. Its done in the spirit of sharing... giving... not taking. The thing is that you get used to getting stuff for nothing for so long you expect it... and there's those few that completely lose the plot an get all shirty just because a vendor won't support some hardware, or a company has made there software protection that much better.
I mean, GET OVER IT!!!
I cannot stand those bitching and moaning people to whom the world owes them a living.
In my opinion FFFish makes some good points, but I don't think nice guys standing up will do much. Since the shirty buggers will prolly just start a flaming war. In the end I think the only thing that can stop dicks like those who posted on the Linux-USB board is smarter moderation. if it's not topic relevant and productive and helpful to others... REMOVE IT.
hehe. I like to think that this post is somewhat helpful. no doubt there's a million other posts here exactly like this one.
Cheers
hard
Slashdot Mirror
My first thought - why would slashdot go to a British newspaper for Australian news. Surely, the story would emerge locally in Australia first and it would be picked up there.
Then I realised it wasn't worth wasting much thought over - newsfeed churnalism wins again. Someone in Estonia could be reporting about the outbreak of small pox across the Americas and it would just churn through the interwebs until someone pointed out it was bullshit - and by then no one would care - they'd have moved on to the next stupid novelty story.
If you took a job where working around the laws of thermodynamics was part of the job description, you deserve to be fired.
yeah but how often do you sign up for a job where the actual role is exactly described by the job spec?
To clarify maxume's point above. Phone plans are designed on two basic principles;
- people like free stuff
- people don't want to see a $2000 bill ever so they are willing to pay for more than they actually use
the result are what's called a "cap" plan in Australia. It's basically a means to bundle a whole heap of "free" airtime on top of a monthly amount paid by the customer. (i.e. get $350 on a $49) plan. This is highly popular because people think they are getting more than they need. The trouble is that the rates are inflated so they churn through the cap faster than they would at standard rates which does risk a blow out in spend. The thing is most people don't spend anywhere near as much as they think. This conservatism results in people paying more on a monthly basis than they need for a service they don't use.
and this stuff sells in Aus! i work for a small mvno that went live with phone plans with standard monthly charges and rates and they didn't sell. we switched over to cap plans and watched phones walk out the door. People want this stuff. And phone companies count on it that people don't know what they really need so they go conservative and jump on a higher plan above what they might need.
I suspect that an investigation into an individual rate might be a waste of time since a reduction in the rate would not really alter the structure of this type of plan or the intent of the us carriers.
I've made some big assumptions here (i.e. that the plan structures operating in US are fundamentally similar to Australia). I know nothing of plan structures available in the us. but I don't think i'm too far off the mark with the intent of the phone carriers.
Hi I don't tend to post very often... in fact at all, but I do feel very strongly about this issue. Taco hit the nail right on the head when he said that there are too many people out there who have tthis "You owe me" attitude. It's really sickening. Yes of course this attitude is nothing new. Farken duh! But that doesn't make it right. I'm primarily a gamer, but I enjoy tinkering around with Linux and Perl. Mostly my exposure to this "you owe me" attitude comes from gamers who completely refuse to play any game they can't get as warez. Basically if a new game is released, it's like "so can i get an iso off you?" to which i usually say "go fuck yourself" I'm not a crazy pro-purchasing stuff nut who has too much money to waste, but I've never believed in something for nothing. If I put blood sweat and tears into some work, I'd like to think something is gonna come back to me... It can be cash (very rare and unlikely) it can be food, a favour, or a compliment. Most of the time I'm happy with some positive feedback... but it makes it worth while. Anyways my point is that I like to think that if someone does something right, I give them the credit they deserve. And I take that as far as... If I get a warez game (I mean who hasn't got one or two or 50 in their collection) and I like it to the point that I'm playing it often, I'm going to go out and buy it. It's giving the developer the support they deserve. Yeah you can talk about big companies and lots of cash and blah blah blah whinge bitch moan. But fuck it. What it comes down to is cold hard cash. If a venture isn't profitable, you're a tool to stay in it. I'm not right up on all the open source stuff. But I know that companies are only in it for the money. This is ok by me. That's what companies do. Larger companies are complex structures and decisions are rarely made without consideration of market position, costs, revenues... all that shit. Individuals however should be in it for more idealistic reasons. I see open source development as contributing to build something better. Its done in the spirit of sharing... giving... not taking. The thing is that you get used to getting stuff for nothing for so long you expect it... and there's those few that completely lose the plot an get all shirty just because a vendor won't support some hardware, or a company has made there software protection that much better. I mean, GET OVER IT!!! I cannot stand those bitching and moaning people to whom the world owes them a living. In my opinion FFFish makes some good points, but I don't think nice guys standing up will do much. Since the shirty buggers will prolly just start a flaming war. In the end I think the only thing that can stop dicks like those who posted on the Linux-USB board is smarter moderation. if it's not topic relevant and productive and helpful to others... REMOVE IT. hehe. I like to think that this post is somewhat helpful. no doubt there's a million other posts here exactly like this one. Cheers hard