Many high school and college students accustomed to sending unlimited instant messages on their computers do not adapt easily to text messaging’s pay-per-message format, and end up with unexpectedly high bills when they get involved in keypad conversations that involve hundreds, even thousands, of messages a month. The results are angry confrontations with parents, long-term payment plans and the loss of cellphone privileges.–Lisa W. Foderaro —Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, a Message at a Time (NY Times)
Similar:
Kairos: Open Since 1996
As a plucky new faculty member I wrote a...
Academia
“Link In Bio” is a slow knife
We don’t even notice it anymore — “link ...
Business
How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive
The ink used in a fountain pen, the ...
Culture
"We are not Amazon franchises": booksellers respond to Amazon Source
Wonderful snark from an indie bookselle...
Amusing
Stop sharing those unsourced memes about "be woke" and "God doesn't need soldiers" -- here...
Pope Leo XIV, in his first address to jo...
Culture
In the Salary Race, Engineers Sprint but English Majors Endure
Since new technical skills are a...
Academia
Thanks for the explanation, Torill. I know that the US is a little behind much of Europe, Japan, Israel and other places when it comes to integrating SMS into culture.
This is only until the children and their parents have figured out the costs of the text-messaging. It was a big issue some years ago in Norway, now people find ways to negotiate this before they agree to letting a teenager have a cellphone, and get good deals with the phone companies. Sms messages is the medium of daily planning in many a regular Norwegian family.
One thing which is a shock when Europeans meet American cellphone bills is that you guys get charged for receiving calls and messages. The companies get paid twice for the same service! That’s the thing we really don’t get.