Re: In other news

On 12.07.2023 13.22, Merlyne wrote:
> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]: 
> 
>> On 08.07.2023 17.01, Merlyne wrote:
>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>
>>>> On 05.07.2023 14.14, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 02.07.2023 16.29, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 28.06.2023 13.31, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>> I got a new phone and a better plan.
>>>>>>>>> Why are cell plans so much more expensive in my country vs the
>>>>>>>>> US? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> CAPITALISM! It's always capitalism. We've been over this.
>>>>>>> Sure. Are you sure that it's not related to population base?
>>>>>> If you pay the same country-wide and you the same coverage in
>>>>>> sparsely populated areas (I know you have some of those), then
>>>>>> maybe. But most likely capitalism.
>>>>>>
>>>>> Ugh!
>>>>>>>>> I got a new S21 and 20GB of data for $47/month taxes in.
>>>>>>>> I pay a base fee of ~$4/month (deducted from consumption) with
>>>>>>>> slightly higher per-minute charge and no free data. But then I
>>>>>>>> only use data in emergency (which haven't happened yet) and make
>>>>>>>> maybe two calls and two texts/month.
>>>>>>> I used to have a prepaid cell for like $10 a month back in 2003
>>>>>>> when it was my emergency phone.
>>>>>>> Once I started using it all the time, it was more cost-efficient
>>>>>>> to have a plan with unlimited talk and text. I would say that I
>>>>>>> am most frequently contacted by text than by other modes i.e.
>>>>>>> voice call or email. 
>>>>>>>> On the other hand I still pay for a landline (IP) even though it
>>>>>>>> hasn't made a sound (or call) in several years.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I also have a landline. My Dad calls it and a few places where I
>>>>>>> keep forgetting to change my contact info to my cell. I think the
>>>>>>> landline isn't VOIP it's whatever came before that but after
>>>>>>> rotary dial phones. 
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Analog... (rotary dials relied on counting the impulses - one for
>>>>>> each digit passed on return; pushbutton 'dialing' relied on the
>>>>>> frequency of the tone correspondig to each digit/button)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> They will probably phase it out eventually.
>>>>>> Like they did with teevee signals, thus making everyone get new
>>>>>> teevees... 
>>>>>
>>>>> I thought I got a new tv because the old one stopped working.
>>>> That may be, but lots of people got new tvs because their old one
>>>> couldn't receive/decode the digital signal.
>>>>
>>>
>>> The cable company gave out digital conversion boxes to people.
>> Can you still get one of those. To use on an old teevee that you buy
>> at an antique shop?
>>
> I doubt anything would work on a tv that old.
In theory it would. It would require a digital to analog conversion and
probably a granularity reduction from HD to PAL or [whatever the
American format is called]. An old cable converter might just work if
one could bypass the subscription bit.
> 
>> People without a cable subscription didn't get any, I'll bet.
>>
> Probably not. No one is that nice.
Especially not cable companies.

-- 
BeH

" We are trapped by language to such a degree that every attempt to
formulate insight is a play on words." - Niels Bohr