SMSLess

There’s plenty of fiscally responsible reasons not to text (many of which we’ve addressed here before), but there is one other reason that you should think twice before typing words into your mobile device.

People NEED to hear a voice on the other end of the conversation every once in a while.

Yes, Twitter and Facebook have expanded the realm of what a “friend” is and how you keep in touch, but there is an inherent belief/fear that we’re actually disassociating ourselves from society on a personal level by interacting without using our voices.  There are several reasons to “talk rather than text”":

1. Inflection. The cadence of what you’re communicating doesn’t come across in text.  Neither does sarcasm (at least not without crafting your setnece really well - tough to do in text-speak).  Your message could get lost in what the receiver interprets as opposed to what you intended.  The result is often miscommunication or, in some cases, worse consequences can creep in.
2. Time. Texting takes time.  Sure, so does having an actual conversation, but mastering the art of texting is going to take some doing.  We all know how to talk.  Besides, the response in a person-to-person conversation using voice is often more instantaneous than texting.
3. Syntax & Spelling. Your message simply comes across as more professional or polished when you say it rather than type it on a tiny keyboard/screen.  Texting is a language all on its own, and it can come across as “amateurish” or “rushed” if you send it to the wrong person.  Plus, when you say something no one can see that you can or can’t spell it, right?

There are other reasons to simply talk instead of texting - just as having time to think before you text can be an advantage versus instant responses.  However, you can still end up with your foot in your mouth if you text the wrong thing - or what is seen to be the wrong thing by the person on the other end.

That will be as bitter a taste as the money it cost you to do it in the first place.

The CRTC sure is busy these days.

belltwit

Now that Bell has the sole contract to provide Twitter/SMS in Canada it’s no small wonder that they’ll be gouging customers even if they have unlimited text plans. At fifteen cents to send OR receive each message, apparently Bell is once again indicating the monopolistic tendencies that they used to force on customers before telephone services were deregulated in Canada.

“Bell is charging users 15 cents for each Twitter message they send or receive, even if they have an unlimited text messaging plan.

“Because Twitter is a third party service, the messages are considered premium and not covered by our plans. This aligns with industry standards regarding third party premium messaging,” said Bell spokeswoman Julie Smithers in an email.

The rationale behind the rip-off is even more ridiculous when you consider that DATA is DATA and 140 characters are 140 characters. Bell gives one more reason why SMS pricing needs to be regulated to a real cost and not a market “premium”

Check out the #belltwit hashtag on Twitter for a running commentary. 

links:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/02/24/tech-twitter-bell.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/blogwatch/2009/02/bell_will_charge_for_tweets_by.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/blogwatch/2009/02/twitter_texts_back_for_bell_cu.html

from pocketnow.com

“AT&T is up to some dirty wireless tricks these days, sending text ads to a “significant number” of its own customers. The ads were meant to remind customers to tune in, turn on, and text their votes away for American Idol, a show which the wireless firm is a sponsor of. Although the texts are free, users who vote for their favorite Idol contestant via text are charged a text fee and a voting fee. ”

This is like a police officer sitting at stoplight beside you, revving the engine to race you, and then busting you as soon you both broke the speed limit.

Please join the SMSLess Facebook page and keep the 15th of each month SMS/text message free.

I love it when I don’t have to do the math…

“Let’s assume that all text messages sent in the U.S. are exactly the maximum size allowed, 160 characters. That translates to 160 bytes of storage space per message. One terabyte is equal to 1,099,511,627,776 bytes and a terabyte costs $100 to store. Therefore, the cost of storing and transmitting one text message is approximately $0.00000001 or $1-8. If carriers charge $.20 per text message, that means the markup is almost 20,000,000%!”

“Yes, the total cost to carriers for ALL the text messages sent in the U.S. this year is no more than $25,000!”

from rantblogger.com

Don’t forget “Text Nothing Day” is Thursday, January 15th. Join the smsless Facebook group to keep up to date.