Article

2008-12-30 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-12-30 13:16|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 I have never sent a text message in my life.

Posted by tu3031 2008-12-30 14:15|| 2008-12-30 14:15|| Front Page Top

#2 ...but I would if she told me to.

Posted by tu3031 2008-12-30 14:16|| 2008-12-30 14:16|| Front Page Top

#3 So I guess we don't need to worry about costs for R&D, tower maintenance, equipment upgrades, redundancy, etc.

Sure text messaging takes up a small amount of bandwidth, yet the 'roaming', streaming video, photos and internet access demanded by the mobile phone user is usually included in the plan at either 'break even' or even a loss in some cases.

Text Messaging pays the bills. Kind of like going to a restaurant for a big steak dinner (break even or loss) and staying around for a few drinks (lots o' markup).

Posted by Mullah Richard 2008-12-30 14:19|| 2008-12-30 14:19|| Front Page Top

#4 I think she's giving me a chest message.

Posted by Deacon Blues">Deacon Blues 2008-12-30 14:29|| 2008-12-30 14:29|| Front Page Top

#5 What a coincidence, text also begins and ends with a "T".

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-12-30 14:32|| 2008-12-30 14:32|| Front Page Top

#6 I guess I missed the part where people are being forced to text.

If not....who cares? It's about a big a deal as people paying outrageous taxes on cigarettes. Don't wanna pay the price? Don't do it.

Posted by Cornsilk Blondie 2008-12-30 17:27|| 2008-12-30 17:27|| Front Page Top

#7 Text messaging was about the only way to communicate after Katrina and Rita. Landlines were out, and cell systems were so overloaded that you could not get or keep a connection long enough to complete a call. But text packets would 'get in line' and wait for an opening, and were small enough to get through before the system choked again. Or something like that - they worked and nothing else did.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2008-12-30 17:27|| 2008-12-30 17:27|| Front Page Top

#8 Nobody, especially the telcos, anticipated texting would be anything other than a fringe geek hobby. It costs the Telcos almost nothing and is a massive revenue stream. Probably THE most profitable activity for any business, anywhere.

Posted by phil_b 2008-12-30 18:42|| 2008-12-30 18:42|| Front Page Top

#9 Strange that my dirt-cheap one-payment-per-year Tracfone allows me to receive as many text messages as I want at no extra charge at all. I spend about 8 cents to send one, which is seldom since my correspondents don't know how to read the texts they get. I have My Yahoo sending me texts about all kinds of deadlines, comes in very handy, especially when traveling. Once I was hiking deep in a canyon of the Rio Grande, my cell phone said "No Service" and yet I received a text message in that very remote place. I looked up & could see a mountain top 50 miles away over the edge of the canyon. Very cool.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2008-12-30 19:09|| 2008-12-30 19:09|| Front Page Top

#10 Is that a cellphone in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-12-30 19:22|| 2008-12-30 19:22|| Front Page Top

#11 "Strange that my dirt-cheap one-payment-per-year Tracfone allows me to receive as many text messages as I want at no extra charge at all. I spend about 8 cents to send one"

Do tell, Anguper Hupomosing9418. Feel free to e-mail me some more info about that phone, if you would, please. :-D

Wonder if you can transfer your own number to their phone? (On the other hand, I give my cell number out so seldom - and don't know it myself unless I look it up - that it probably wouldn't make any difference.)

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2008-12-30 19:46|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2008-12-30 19:46|| Front Page Top

23:55 Abu do you love
23:51 Barbara Skolaut
23:32 Abu do you love
23:29 djh_usmc
23:23 QVGregorio
23:09 mom
23:00 mom
22:46 Cornsilk Blondie
22:45 mom
22:42 badanov
22:37 Cyber Sarge
22:35 USN,Ret.
22:34 mom
22:12 OldSpook
22:05 Zhang Fei
21:57 imoyaro
21:51 JosephMendiola
21:45 Frank G
21:43 JosephMendiola
21:43 tu3031
21:40 GolfBravoUSMC
21:37 Frank G
21:36 crosspatch
21:34 JosephMendiola