Re: In other news

On 22.07.2023 17.21, Merlyne wrote:
> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]: 
> 
>> On 18.07.2023 13.24, Merlyne wrote:
>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>
>>>> 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.
>>>
>>> It could work from an antenna. Some channels are in the air. In HD
>>> even. 
>> That's what I meant, using the antenna as input for the box. A really
>> old TV will probably make a mess of an unaltered HD signal.
> I can imagine.
> It would probably make a mess of SD signals too.
And if by some miracle it could be made to work, there probably wouldn't
be anything good on anyway.

>>
>>>>>> 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