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It definitely is a scam. Here in Japan, text IS data -- SMS messages are just e-mail and every phone has a user-defined e-mail address, except for some cheapo
by atgm 16y ago
It definitely is a scam.
Here in Japan, text IS data -- SMS messages are just e-mail and every phone has a user-defined e-mail address, except for some cheapo phones that just have randomly generated strings.
Data is charged by the packet, with different tiers of pricing; for example, my plan charges by the packet up to a maximum level, at which point I can use everything for that maximum charge, which is around 60-70 USD depending on the exchange rate.
It's definitely a better deal than other countries seem to be getting...
- ugh 16y agoI don’t really understand how that makes it a scam.
- stcredzero 16y agoWhat you pay per megabyte for an SMS is ludicrous.
- ugh 16y agoSure, but how does that make it a scam? Prices for text messages are well known and there are plenty alternatives available. I’m quite happy that those who frequently write text messages subsidize me. (Competition between carriers is relatively brutal – at least in Germany – so I’m pretty sure that I’m not overcharged.) Were SMS to use email I would see a pretty clear net neutrality problem (still no scam) but if you are using GSM, text messages are technologically very much unlike email.
- isleyaardvark 16y ago> Prices for text messages are well known and there are plenty alternatives available. Maybe in Germany, but not in America. We're calling it a scam because we think it is an example of price-fixing, which is anti-competitive, anti-free market behavior. (http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/211578.htm http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/211578.htm)
- eli 16y agoWhat you pay for a luxury handbag is ludicrous too. But that's doesn't make it a "scam." The price is whatever the market can bear. Don't want it? Don't buy it.
- stcredzero 16y agoAll of my SMS is free, sent through Google Voice.
- trezor 16y agoYes and no. what that means is that you don't have SMS, you have email only and that is indeed packet-data. SMS is basically a hack which lets us transmit non-control data over the GSM control-channel, normally used top setup calls, channels and specific time-frames required for calling to work. This means that SMS has second priority and is treated as a when-available transport. In conclusion SMS is different and charging differently for it follows naturally.
- atgm 16y agoFor all practical intents and purposes, SMS and e-mails are the same thing for the non-technical end-user when they're easily accessible from a phone; use of either is referred to "texting." I never knew that about SMS, though... thanks for enlightening me. If it is that different, and not just raw data, then I guess it does make sense to charge differently.
- syaz1 16y agoI never heard people use the term "texting" when they are in fact emailing, regardless of the device used. Over here texting is specifically SMS.
- atgm 16y agoHmm, among the native English speakers I've encountered here, the most common term used is "texting," perhaps because there IS no SMS function on the phones, so there's no distinction to be made.