I just setup a text message block on my phone. As a cell phone customer, I have two options:
- Buy an unlimited text plan, for which I’ll never use.
- Pay 20 cents to send and 20 cents to receive each text message.
The unlimited option is a total waste of money for me, which leaves option 2. I have no problem with paying 20 cents to send a text. My issue is that I have to pay to receive texts. For 20 cents, I can buy a banana. So everytime I get an idiotic text, it is like someone reaching into my kitchen window and stealing a banana.
Yeah I know, I’m an old man. I don’t IM either. I am not a fan of short burst communication. It is almost all noise with very little signal. Feel free to call me, email me or even write me a letter. I pick and choose the technologies that benefit and enrich my life. Texting is not one of them.
Most phone companies also offer in between options, where you pay like $5 for 500-1000 messages. So basically, you get cheaper text messages up to a certain limit. I think for you, the no text message option is best, but you shouldn’t misrepresent that there is no middle ground.
I was unaware of such plan and it wasn’t mentioned to me as an option. After your comment, I went to the AT&T site and found a plan called MESSAGING 200 for $5.00. That seems fair. I wonder why they didn’t tell me about it?
I was going to text you about the MESSAGING 200 plan, but…
They probably did not tell you to make up for all the secret ways that you save money with AT&T and Vonage:
http://criticalmas.com/2009/07/secret-ways-to-save-money-with-att-and-vonage/