Why Do People Still Text
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@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@IRJ said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@IRJ said in Why Do People Still Text:
I think even $10 plans include unlimited texting now.
Maybe, but I'm not sure these people are on $10 plans or that they are available. Ohio is a poor state, it's not like NY. We throw around $40 plans like it is nothing. They do not.
Who has $10 plans with that, though? Maybe Sprint?
www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375644,00.asp
Here are some cheap plans that start out at $15 a year.
That's just messaging data though no SMS.
Yes, but there are a number of plans starting at $10 a month that include unlimited texting.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
And keep in mind that people need coverage. So if Sprint has a great plan for unlimited texts, but doesn't have service, that doesn't make it a good plan even if it is technically cheap. It needs to be someone that covers the needs cost effectively. I know that Sprint has bad coverage there, but T-Mobile is great.
Republic will roam freely to most providers. Verizon being the big one that they won't do data roaming with.
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I text because my GF refuses to get a smart phone. She's concerned about the added monthly cost (we are not broke by any means).
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
Because the cheapest, smallest, plans generally do include unlimited texting.
Generally... I guess. They didn't when I first had this concern, for a long time I was unable to get them. And I came back to this after learning about several people, all in less then five days, that all brought up this problem independently without me mentioning it at all. I was shocked to learn how many people I engage with normally still have this issue that their cheaper plans don't yet have unlimited texting.
Right, but when was the last time these people, in the US (sorry @MarigabyFrias), looked at their options? Are they still investing an outdated plan when their are newer, cheaper, plans that they can use?
That's a good question. Maybe it isn't recent. But a lot of the market doesn't want to constantly investigate plans, either. That's costly in another way.
That's fine. But once they discover that other people are getting a service that they want wouldn't it behoove them to investigate? The savings and additional features would quickly pay for the time spent investigating.
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@DustinB3403 said in Why Do People Still Text:
I text because my GF refuses to get a smart phone. She's concerned about the added monthly cost (we are not broke by any means).
Republic Wireless works great in Rochester. I pay 24$ a month for Talk, Text, and 1GB of data.
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@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
Because the cheapest, smallest, plans generally do include unlimited texting.
Generally... I guess. They didn't when I first had this concern, for a long time I was unable to get them. And I came back to this after learning about several people, all in less then five days, that all brought up this problem independently without me mentioning it at all. I was shocked to learn how many people I engage with normally still have this issue that their cheaper plans don't yet have unlimited texting.
Right, but when was the last time these people, in the US (sorry @MarigabyFrias), looked at their options? Are they still investing an outdated plan when their are newer, cheaper, plans that they can use?
That's a good question. Maybe it isn't recent. But a lot of the market doesn't want to constantly investigate plans, either. That's costly in another way.
That's fine. But once they discover that other people are getting a service that they want wouldn't it behoove them to investigate? The savings and additional features would quickly pay for the time spent investigating.
Possibly. But remember that they don't WANT texting in this case. They just want people to stop texting them.
Some, like my aunt, were given options to simply block texting to solve that problem. Which is nice as we did not used to have this and I've been hit for some crazy bills for service I didn't request and didn't know that I had (long ago.)
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
Because the cheapest, smallest, plans generally do include unlimited texting.
Generally... I guess. They didn't when I first had this concern, for a long time I was unable to get them. And I came back to this after learning about several people, all in less then five days, that all brought up this problem independently without me mentioning it at all. I was shocked to learn how many people I engage with normally still have this issue that their cheaper plans don't yet have unlimited texting.
Right, but when was the last time these people, in the US (sorry @MarigabyFrias), looked at their options? Are they still investing an outdated plan when their are newer, cheaper, plans that they can use?
That's a good question. Maybe it isn't recent. But a lot of the market doesn't want to constantly investigate plans, either. That's costly in another way.
That's fine. But once they discover that other people are getting a service that they want wouldn't it behoove them to investigate? The savings and additional features would quickly pay for the time spent investigating.
Possibly. But remember that they don't WANT texting in this case. They just want people to stop texting them.
Some, like my aunt, were given options to simply block texting to solve that problem. Which is nice as we did not used to have this and I've been hit for some crazy bills for service I didn't request and didn't know that I had (long ago.)
Forget about the texting piece.
Does she also want a lower monthly bill? You have to shop plans. The carrier is under no obligation to let you know that there is a lower cost plan out there for her.
In fact it is completely against the business interests to let her know that.
The fact that the lower cost plan has unlimited texting is irrelevant, she can still have it blocked.
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@JaredBusch said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
Because the cheapest, smallest, plans generally do include unlimited texting.
Generally... I guess. They didn't when I first had this concern, for a long time I was unable to get them. And I came back to this after learning about several people, all in less then five days, that all brought up this problem independently without me mentioning it at all. I was shocked to learn how many people I engage with normally still have this issue that their cheaper plans don't yet have unlimited texting.
Right, but when was the last time these people, in the US (sorry @MarigabyFrias), looked at their options? Are they still investing an outdated plan when their are newer, cheaper, plans that they can use?
That's a good question. Maybe it isn't recent. But a lot of the market doesn't want to constantly investigate plans, either. That's costly in another way.
That's fine. But once they discover that other people are getting a service that they want wouldn't it behoove them to investigate? The savings and additional features would quickly pay for the time spent investigating.
Possibly. But remember that they don't WANT texting in this case. They just want people to stop texting them.
Some, like my aunt, were given options to simply block texting to solve that problem. Which is nice as we did not used to have this and I've been hit for some crazy bills for service I didn't request and didn't know that I had (long ago.)
Forget about the texting piece.
Does she also want a lower monthly bill? You have to shop plans. The carrier is under no obligation to let you know that there is a lower cost plan out there for her.
In fact it is completely against the business interests to let her know that.
The fact that the lower cost plan has unlimited texting is irrelevant, she can still have it blocked.
That may be true. Unfortunately I don't know what the costs and carriers in question are. The impression that I got is that these are extremely low cost plans, like $5 or maybe $10 plans. Maybe there is unlimited text on decent $10 plans with Cleveland / Canton / Akron coverage, that I don't know.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@JaredBusch said in Why Do People Still Text:
It does not cost too much. Your people in Ohio are paying more than they need in order to not have unlimited texting. This is their problem for not reshopping their old cellular plans.
This is the problem that I have with people texting... people who want to text always blame others for not buying the plans that the texting people want them to have. Bottom line... it's not your decision which plan they should have. They don't want to pay for texting. That you want them to pay for texting isn't relevant.
It's not just me wrong here, you are telling people that anyone not paying for unlimited texting is wrong to not do so. And that's my point... that very feeling is why I think texting is wrong. Nothing should ever make us feel that other people owe it to us to pay for phone plans for how we want to contact them, rather than how they want to be contacted.
I totally understand this - and back when texting was very expensive I would complain at people who texted me because it was costing me money.
If those people don't want an unlimited texting plan, then they should contact the carrier and disable texting. With luck, anyone attempting to text them should get a message back saying that texting isn't available.
From there you might ask the person in question - hey how come you don't accept texts? or better yet, you should ask, how should I contact you when I need to get a hold of you in the future?
Complaining that they don't have texting to tantamount to complaining that they don't have Facebook messenger - everyone can choose for themselves what methods of communication they want to use.
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@garak0410 said in Why Do People Still Text:
Our family has moved to GroupMe for things like family news and get-togethers...too many people were either getting left out of texts or somehow, they would get dropped out of a group text. We also use it at church for staff communication and when I direct a community theatre show, I use it for cast communications.
Overall though. I think this is the solution. I wish GroupMe (or Skype or...) was ubiquitous as texting and SMS is.
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@Dashrender said in Why Do People Still Text:
If those people don't want an unlimited texting plan, then they should contact the carrier and disable texting. With luck, anyone attempting to text them should get a message back saying that texting isn't available.
Two problems with this, though:
- Not everyone allows (or allowed) the blocking of texts.
- Just because people don't want to chat over text doesn't mean that they want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. SMS verifications or emergency notifications might be desired, but not conversations.
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@Dashrender said in Why Do People Still Text:
Complaining that they don't have texting to tantamount to complaining that they don't have Facebook messenger - everyone can choose for themselves what methods of communication they want to use.
But if you don't want Messenger you can always block or unblock at will, and you are never charged for it itself.
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@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@garak0410 said in Why Do People Still Text:
Our family has moved to GroupMe for things like family news and get-togethers...too many people were either getting left out of texts or somehow, they would get dropped out of a group text. We also use it at church for staff communication and when I direct a community theatre show, I use it for cast communications.
Overall though. I think this is the solution. I wish GroupMe (or Skype or...) was ubiquitous as texting and SMS is.
Yes, these things are what I propose. I'm in no way opposed to instant messaging. It's the legacy SMS protocol that is problematic because it doesn't ride on the modern networks and creates both cost and technical problems.
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I handle this my own way, I have unlimited texts but I don't keep my phone with me. So if you want to reach me quickly, text is not likely going to work well. It might be an hour or two before I see it. My roommate doesn't read her texts at all, she just ignores them. Her phone screen is bad, but her laptop works fine, so she mostly just reads whatever goes to her laptop (most of the time.)
That SMS is tied to a device is one of my long running concerns with it. In the post 1990s world, why would anyone put up with communications tied to a device rather than to the person? And, the answer is, a lot of people don't.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@garak0410 said in Why Do People Still Text:
Our family has moved to GroupMe for things like family news and get-togethers...too many people were either getting left out of texts or somehow, they would get dropped out of a group text. We also use it at church for staff communication and when I direct a community theatre show, I use it for cast communications.
Overall though. I think this is the solution. I wish GroupMe (or Skype or...) was ubiquitous as texting and SMS is.
Yes, these things are what I propose. I'm in no way opposed to instant messaging. It's the legacy SMS protocol that is problematic because it doesn't ride on the modern networks and creates both cost and technical problems.
I'm in agreement with this. However SMS works in some places that data doesn't... my home town (until they just spun up a new LTE tower) was one of these places.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@Dashrender said in Why Do People Still Text:
If those people don't want an unlimited texting plan, then they should contact the carrier and disable texting. With luck, anyone attempting to text them should get a message back saying that texting isn't available.
Two problems with this, though:
- Not everyone allows (or allowed) the blocking of texts.
- Just because people don't want to chat over text doesn't mean that they want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. SMS verifications or emergency notifications might be desired, but not conversations.
Yeah, 10 years ago sprint didn't allow blocking of texts.
as for part two, then you can't stop 'normals' from sending you texts.. the only option you have is to not respond to their texts. The majority of people will do what is most convenient for themselves. If texting isn't denied them.. then it will take a lot of effort to break that other party from using it with you.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@Dashrender said in Why Do People Still Text:
Complaining that they don't have texting to tantamount to complaining that they don't have Facebook messenger - everyone can choose for themselves what methods of communication they want to use.
But if you don't want Messenger you can always block or unblock at will, and you are never charged for it itself.
Sure you are, you're charged data when in use. But that might not be your point.
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@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@garak0410 said in Why Do People Still Text:
Our family has moved to GroupMe for things like family news and get-togethers...too many people were either getting left out of texts or somehow, they would get dropped out of a group text. We also use it at church for staff communication and when I direct a community theatre show, I use it for cast communications.
Overall though. I think this is the solution. I wish GroupMe (or Skype or...) was ubiquitous as texting and SMS is.
Yes, these things are what I propose. I'm in no way opposed to instant messaging. It's the legacy SMS protocol that is problematic because it doesn't ride on the modern networks and creates both cost and technical problems.
I'm in agreement with this. However SMS works in some places that data doesn't... my home town (until they just spun up a new LTE tower) was one of these places.
True. And I get that to some degree. However, does your home town also not have wifi?
I am places that have email, instant messaging, Skype, etc. every day that don't have SMS. The opposite happens, but at least what I see, it's like 90% favourably towards Internet, only 10% to SMS. If you use only SMS to reach pretty much anyone that I know, it gets there no faster and far, far less reliably than, say, email.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@coliver said in Why Do People Still Text:
@garak0410 said in Why Do People Still Text:
Our family has moved to GroupMe for things like family news and get-togethers...too many people were either getting left out of texts or somehow, they would get dropped out of a group text. We also use it at church for staff communication and when I direct a community theatre show, I use it for cast communications.
Overall though. I think this is the solution. I wish GroupMe (or Skype or...) was ubiquitous as texting and SMS is.
Yes, these things are what I propose. I'm in no way opposed to instant messaging. It's the legacy SMS protocol that is problematic because it doesn't ride on the modern networks and creates both cost and technical problems.
I'm in agreement with this. However SMS works in some places that data doesn't... my home town (until they just spun up a new LTE tower) was one of these places.
True. And I get that to some degree. However, does your home town also not have wifi?
I am places that have email, instant messaging, Skype, etc. every day that don't have SMS. The opposite happens, but at least what I see, it's like 90% favourably towards Internet, only 10% to SMS. If you use only SMS to reach pretty much anyone that I know, it gets there no faster and far, far less reliably than, say, email.
Public Wifi? No not really. I have wifi at my office and the McDonalds has Wifi but there is nothing around that everyone has access to as ubiquitously as they do SMS.
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@Dashrender said in Why Do People Still Text:
@scottalanmiller said in Why Do People Still Text:
@Dashrender said in Why Do People Still Text:
Complaining that they don't have texting to tantamount to complaining that they don't have Facebook messenger - everyone can choose for themselves what methods of communication they want to use.
But if you don't want Messenger you can always block or unblock at will, and you are never charged for it itself.
Sure you are, you're charged data when in use. But that might not be your point.
Whoa, no. Here is how it works...
- Either you get charged for both, or both are free. If we say "who doesn't get unlimited texts" we also say "who doesn't get unlimited data." Both are commonly unlimited, even in cheap plans, or capped high enough to not be of any concern for messaging.
- Unlike texting, there is no association with Messenger to a paid-for network. LIbraries, restaurants, whole cities have free Internet. No one has free texting. Messenger is free itself, totally free. That you might choose to pay for data is a separate issue. I can certainly use Messenger 100% free a lot of the time if I want.
