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Back in my day, you used to pay per minute for calls. Then they moved to a few hundred minutes free and the new SMS system cost a few cents per text. Then it wa
by ok_dad 3y ago
Back in my day, you used to pay per minute for calls. Then they moved to a few hundred minutes free and the new SMS system cost a few cents per text. Then it was like 1500min/100sms free. Eventually it became unlimited minutes and texts but data cost some cents per kb or mb, then eventually that ratcheted up to “unlimited” everything with some “reasonable limits”.
As a kid I used to make a collect call to my mom and when they asked who was calling I’d say, “pick me up” and hang up. Free short messages even in the 90’s!
- kstrauser 3y agoAh, good ol’ Bob Wehadababyitsaboy.
- JohnFen 3y ago> Back in my day, you used to pay per minute for calls. Hello, fellow graybeard! This is something I pull out every once in a while to let kids these days know how rough we had it: we had to pay 10-25 cents per minute for any in-state phone calls that weren't "local", where "local" was an arbitrary boundary on the map not even related to area code. If we had to call out of state, charges started at $1 per minute. Every year at Christmas, we'd have an event where the local family would gather to make phone calls to out-of-state family. Because the cost was so high, we had to strictly ration time. Each kid (I was a kid then) got 3 minutes talk time. This was late '70s/early '80s, and the figures are not adjusted for inflation.
- matwood 3y agoAnd early 'unlimited' cell plans required the user to be 'local' usually in a city. Leave the city and boom, back to charge per minute because of 'roaming'.