Sunday, July 13, 2003

 

Cellular phones confuse me and the advertisements are totally baffling!
I have been watching TV and I have seen advertisements for cellular phones. The ads cover a wide range of features and such. There is this guy who runs around from place to place asking if the person at the other end can hear him. Like I said in another entry, I would not consider a cell phone from a company who did "trial and error" testing of reception in this manner. Do these people think I am so stupid I would rely on a cell phone which was tested in this manner, by trial and error, of a guy asking if the other could hear him as he went from place to place? Give me a break! This is not an ad which inspires confidence in their service. So, what confuses me is why people go for all of the extras, for example, playing games on their cell phone? Think about it, each minute costs you money. You are paying the cell phone company for the luxury of playing a stupid game on your cell phone! Does this make sense to you? Playing games on a cell phone and paying for it seems the ultimate in a cash cow for the cell phone companies. It costs them very little to provide this, but they reap a huge payback and the longer you play, the more they get. I guess my real problem is that I am not a game player in the traditional sense. Yes, I play games, but I do not play (or watch for that matter) the games on popular game shows, like Wheel of Fortune, or Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. My game of choice is chess. I used to watch Jeopardy once in a while when I was in the Navy, but only with a group of other guys to learn trivia for when we went out to sea. I used to be in submarines and sometimes the late night watches (the midwatch, which is 0000-0400 hours) dragged and we had to do something to keep awake. Anyway, back to the cell phones, I can see a reason why a person might need to have a phone handy as they go from place to place. Some facets of business are time critical and a cell phone assists in solving the time crunch in some cases. However, the ad I just saw on TV (via tape) where this guy is playing Wheel of Fortune on his cell phone while at a bus stop seems to be the most absurd use of a cell phone I've seen to date. The people behind this ad must think consumers (like me) are pretty stupid. I noticed they negelct to mention you pay to play. Now, I might be tempted to play if they said it was for free, at no cost to me while I played while waiting for a bus, but no, they do not mention the cost, not one word, nothing at all. Since I saw this ad on a tape, I rewound it to watch it again to hear all the words and read all the words on screen, and sure enough, nothing about the cost to play a game, just that certain charges may apply to cell phone usage. I only have a single land line, and I have only one extra feature, caller ID. I never answer if caller ID says the caller is "unknown." I found out a while back that there are places in the country where caller ID is not available, and it is in these places that telemarketers are based. By placing a call from a place where caller ID is not available, their name nad number shows as "unknown" so I have no idea who it is who is calling. Having learned they use this tactic, I no longer answer and let my answering machine take the call. If they will leave me a message, then I might be interested, maybe. In 6 months that I have been doing this no answer for unknowns thing, not a one has left a message on my box, not one. Another thing, have your answering machine pick up quickly, on the 2nd ring if you can set to do so, so they pay for the call even though they got the box, and on the box, delay a few seconds at the beginning before saying anything on the outgoing message which makes sure the connection is made and they have to pay even though they got the box. a lot of these are hanging up if they do not get an answer by the 4th ring. By setting your machine to 2 rings, your machine connects before they would hang up on the 4th ring. My thinking is that they should pay, whether I answer or not. This is my way of fighting back. OK, so I only cost them a few pennies, but I still cost them and they got nothing from me, so that makes me out to be ahead in the game. I cut their profit and I did no work to do it. If more people did as I do, maybe there would not be so many telemarketers calling me. Whether I use my telephone or not, I pay for having it in my house. I pay additional charges to make 911 service available for everyone. I pay additional charges to provide TDD service for hearing impaired persons. I pay additional charges to make the internet available to schools and libraries. I have determined over half of my basic phone bill is made up of charges for services for other people! So, there it is, my opinion on cell phones. And while I am at it, I was at the library yesterday and the idiot next to me had a cell phone with an exceptionally LOUD ring which he couldn't seem to shut off. Time for another rant... could you people who have cell phones TURN OFF THE RINGER when you go to the library or a movie theater or other places where the ring might be objectionable? You show no consideration for others, when you disturb things when your phone rings and interrupts the proceedings or the silence. You bastards ought to have some consideration for others! I guess your mother failed to teach you manners or maybe you were just too stupid to learn! In spite of 5, yes, count 'em, 5 notices at the entrance to the library, this idiot claimed he "forgot" to turn off the ringer. See what I mean? The twit! Only someone with a case of terminal stupidity could simply forget with 5 reminders at the entrance!

Posted by: Rowlfe - at: 7/13/2003 01:54:00 PM

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