| It's the market, unfortunately As it was mentioned on Slashdot and on this site before as well, people are willing to pay it, so companies are more than willing to charge it. I myself have a data plan that includes unlimited text messaging.
Remember, we are willing to pay money for a bottle of water that we can get for free and cleaner out of a tap (well, in most cases, anyway). When we pay for something, we perceive it has value. |
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| It has worth as long as people are willing to pay for it. Don't like paying for it; don't use it. |
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| reply to MightyPez
That is EXACTLY correct. We are willing to pay for something that has 'value'. Why do you think P2P is so popular? Because it has no 'value', which is why it's free. If the **AA's got in the game, and charged reasonable prices that people were willing to pay, they could become the 'water' vendor of the internet. Instead, they cling to their outdated system of placing an arbitrary value on something that HAS NO VALUE. A bit is a bit is a bit. The fact that they are organized in a certain way doesn't make the price of ZERO suddenly add up to $17.99.
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The happiest countries are the most secular. The struggle AGAINST corporations is the struggle FOR humanity! |
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 KfedkaPremium
join:2005-05-06
Spokane, WA
 ·Comcast
| reply to MightyPez
I've had a cellphone for three years first year being Tmobile and last two years being Verizon. I have seen a drop of 0% on the rate. ISP's are either dropping rates or increasing bandwidth speeds, But these phone companies or doing neither.
There seems to be no competition whatsoever, even with some many wireless phone companies. |
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
Soon they'll expose that Caller ID is making criminal profits too. |
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 DanTrailer Park SupervisorPremium
join:2002-12-17
Eh? | reply to karlmarx
How did that jump to a RIAA slag from a topic on sms? |
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
Agreed. And they should keep raising the fee until they reach the profit apex point. They could quickly drop the price if SMS demand warrants it or they become too out of step with the market. They'd just be leaving money on the table if they don't, plus it would be hard to find an easier way to add shareholder value. |
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| reply to Dan
said by Dan:How did that jump to a RIAA slag from a topic on sms? Stand by for blaming it on the bush administration! |
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disc
join:2005-12-31
Raleigh, NC
1 edit | reply to Kfedka
said by Kfedka:I've had a cellphone for three years first year being Tmobile and last two years being Verizon. I have seen a drop of 0% on the rate. ISP's are either dropping rates or increasing bandwidth speeds, But these phone companies or doing neither. Rumour is that Sprint is going to start some price wars: »www.thestreet.com/s/sprint-preps···googlefi |
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 jhboricuaExMod 2000-01
join:2000-06-06
Minneapolis, MN | reply to fAcEtIOUs
But do you consider this a moral thing to do? |
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
also don't forget, "there's a sucker born every minute". |
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 en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | reply to jhboricua
Business and morality do not go hand in hand.
Businesses are out there to make money/profit.
Morality requires a conscience.
Businesses require keeping an eye on the bottom line - conscience can get in the way.
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Canada = Hollywood North |
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| reply to bogey780
said by bogey780:Soon they'll expose that Caller ID is making criminal profits too. Actually, that Kushnick (sp?) guy has been doing that for several years now, talking about the true cost of CallerID and how much people are charged. |
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| reply to jhboricua
said by jhboricua:But do you consider this a moral thing to do? The capitalist system, so far, has been the best at optimizing scarce resources. And a system that is efficient returns the most to society. So, yes, I find that moral.
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1 edit | reply to factchecker
said by factchecker :said by bogey780:Soon they'll expose that Caller ID is making criminal profits too. Actually, that Kushnick (sp?) guy has been doing that for several years now, talking about the true cost of CallerID and how much people are charged. But Caller-ID is an OPTION and not required. Do I wish it was cheaper - sure. But even at the price they charge, to me it is worth it to screen callers and give me control over who I talk to and when I talk to them.
P.S. I don't pay extra for CallerID myself - it is included in a land line / mobile pkg.
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Internet News
My BLOG
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jhboricuaExMod 2000-01
join:2000-06-06
Minneapolis, MN | reply to en102
Ah, and yet these same people that believe in profit at any cost, and other that supports their practices are quick to chastice the morality of those who, for example, download copyrighted material by using P2P applications.
If they lack the morality to charge ridiculous fees, how can they question the morality of those who won't play their game?
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein
Jose A. Hernandez * System Admin * MPLS, Minnesota, USA * |
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| reply to en102
that's an unfortunate and true fact - and is why it is necessary sometimes for the government to become the conscience.
without either an internal or external conscience we get industries like telecom, where their greed and lack of concern for their country has resulted in a broadband market that is years behind the rest of the developed world, or the content industry, whose lawsuits and bullying have stifled untold creativity and created misery for innocent people.
the free market extremists don't believe in any government regulation or intervention, unless it is of course regulation or intervention that helps industry - does the oil industry really need tax breaks? should congress be passing laws that help the content industry prop up their obsolete business model? |
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
said by fAcEtIOUs:But Caller-ID is an OPTION and not required. That doesn't mean customers should not be alerted to the true price versus the actual cost of delivering the service.
The reason companies get away with charging as much as they do for services like SMS/TXT and caller ID is because consumers don't know the "real costs" of the product - how much it costs to deliver that service/product. |
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| reply to fAcEtIOUs
said by fAcEtIOUs:The capitalist system, so far, has been the best at optimizing scarce resources. I would be careful when you say that once you realize that capitalist economies also exhibit the greatest amount of waste - wasted food (look in the trash of any restaurant), wasted resources (disposable products), etc.
For example, millions of gallons of oil are wasted each year on bottled water because the bottles are used once and discarded to landfills. Single use products, like water bottles, made from finite resources, like oil, are not an efficient use of resources. |
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| reply to factchecker
The thing is it's all part of the business model. Costs themselves are nebulous. A businessman just looks at total resources and how much he could make selling them off. If we paid the true cost of Caller ID, dod you think we'd pay the same in other fields? |
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