So I read an article on Engadget about text messaging and it's rising costs. You can find the article here -> http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/10/s...ssaging-rates/

I know Engadget may not be the most credible source of news journalism, nonetheless it got me thinking about text messaging.

With technology innovation as rampant as it is why is it that text messaging issues still plague us? The issues I'm referring to in specific are unsolicited text messages which is slowly becoming more and more of a problem.

1) Most, if not all carriers allow you to send a text message to one of their subscribers phones by using a form on their website and enter the users phone number with a message. I think this is one of the stupidest services that could be offered, because there is no validation on who is sending the message so anyone could spam another person with text messages.
2) I have yet to see ANY carrier implement a blacklist/whitelist feature for text messaging where the user chooses who can text them so as to avoid unnecessary text message charges. Hell it could even help parents protect their kids now that more and more of them are getting cell phones at younger and younger ages.

It's no wonder why these technology innovations haven't been applied or fixed. It's because they make money of fthe problems and until someone tells them to fix it, why should they.

/discuss (if you want)

 

I never thought about spamming from the internet....thanks for the idea!

But yeah, this sentence pretty much sums it nicely.

 

I think since it is their site that allows the text to be sent, they have some kind of safe guard against major spam. Plus they have the IP address of who sent the message.

 

We have or can get IP addresses of known machines that spam, but that hasn't stopped spam. Dynamic IP Addressing FTL.

As long as something can be done with any chance of not being held accountable or caught, the action will continue. Like SSN, DL# that stay with you for life, it's almost as if IP addresses should stay with you for life and if you need more, you request more. Sure they can be spoofed, but Dynamic addresses only makes it easier.

 

ive said for years that txt msgs are the biggest scam ever

As cell phones and plans get cheaper, txt msgs get more expensive

 

In my opinion, there are only two reasons text messaging is as popular as it is today:

A) Where the masses are concerned, it's been around longer than email enabled phones and has become ubiquitous.

B) Usability: even on phones that are email-enabled, it's usually easier to send a quick text message than it is to send a quick email.

As your average phone gets more and more sophisticated and powerful, email on the phone will also become ubiquitous and the horsepower of under the hood will allow for more sophisticated email client apps which address much of the usability concerns. You can also take this same line of thought and apply it to IM clients on phones.

So on the one hand, carriers are making money by selling their text messaging services, but on the other hand, the writing may be on the wall for text messaging in general. That doesn't really give the carriers much incentive to invest $'s into their text messaging systems for things that only improve the end user experience.

 

OT, but only slightly - Congress is now asking the 4 major wireless companies to justify why they have all raised their prices on text messaging, to the same amount, all at around the same time. I smell collusion and price fixing.

 

I like the idea of blocking/allowing texts from other people. I am not one who texts but I don't want to block them totally neither, just in case someone has to send me information. However when someone texts me a forward that's bandwith I have to pay for since I don't have a text plan.

 

Follow the $$

 

Do the provider web sites have some type of "captcha" system required prior to sending the text? These are the graphic representations of words that must be typed correctly to allow the transaction to continue. This would certainly cut down on the high volume senders, although not the individual messages.

 

OK, but since they run the site that allows the message to be sent, if they see something out of the ordinary, they won't let it happen. One of the local news shows had a guy from Verizon on talk about spam in text, he said they have a system for blocking it just the same as they do for their internet.

 

That was the topic of the article I posted in the first post.

 

I thought what you posted underneath was a summary of the article.

So, yeah - I say it's a big scam and the companies are making money where money can be made. We should me able to video message with our phones by now.

 

email is ubiqutous, but I don't see a majority of phone subscribers getting pda styled or phones with full keyboards to make sending emails easier so they stick to text messaging. These types of phones are becoming more readily avialable, but from what I've seen, more people own flip phones with a standard keypad than a keyboard.

And with the younger crowd, who seem to have more phones than working professionals, texting is bigger than having an email address.

 

Don't they have that already in Japan? or at least I've seen demos of it on phones available or will be available soon in Japan.

 

I would assume that, based on bandwidth, texting is less expensive for the carrier to transmit than a 30 second - 1 minute phone call. Anyone in the biz conform or refute?

 

Most stupid form of communication ever. One can only hope it goes away.

 

^ You never owned a blackberry egh?

I have unlimited plan on everything...let them text.

 

We currently have all texts blocked on our phone because we were getting spammed and were getting charged for it. I recently just started looking into getting a texting plan only because people keep saying "How come you never responded to my text" even though we told them a couple of times we have them blocked. The only real use for them is when I want to tell my wife something, but it's not important enough to call and interrupt her class.

 

Its nice during class if you need to talk to someone.

 

or during meetings or times when you don't want to call someone to tell them one small thing and have it turn into a huge converstation. i'd rather get a text any day of the week telling me to give someone a call when I have a chance then having to hear a stupid voice mail that I have to check telling me the same thing. I wish Voice mail would go away.

 

I don't want it to go away, I'd just like for it to be marked like the iphone does with it. That's a big reason I want one, but AT&T keeps me away, so far.

 

werd. Although I'd much rather explain something over the phone thna via text. But if it's just normal chatter, then text away.

And double werd to voicemail. it just bothers me.

 

There are definitely occasions where a voice mail is superior than a text message, I'll agree to that. But if you have a pda phone that has a full keyboard, text messaging can still trump voice mail in some of those occasions as well.

I remember when Voice mail used to cost money on cell phones, then it became a free option on every plan that came with your cell phone service.

So why is it that text messaging hasn't followed suit yet? Ahhh I remember, it's because they can charge you whatever the hell they want. And really, there's nothing we consumers can do about it. All the cell phone provider will say is, well then cancel the service or pay the fee.

Choosing a cell phone provider is no longer about choosing between the best, it's about choosing the lesser of two evils.

 

blackberry unlimited text FTW

 

I have a buddy who is contracted to put cell phone towers into use by the big cell companies (basically, he owns several [thousand] towers and leases them out) and he told me years ago that text messaging costs NOTHING on the maintenance side of things. Go figure, you know the cell companies are eating all the profit

 

I hate voicemails. If I see you called me I will call you back so unless I am dying I dont need a voicemail.

 

Remember voice mail on paging? It was the same thing. I used to work at a paging company for about 5 years. We re-sold paging services provided by PageNet. PageNet gave us voice mail for free. We'd charge different prices based on what kind of plan you had. Over the years though, as competition increased, voice mail became a free service.

Now this isn't to say that PageNet didn't eat that cost in hopes of landing more subscribers, but we had that pricing structure for years and it worked fine. Cell phones are the only reason why paging has gone away.

 

I don't mind voice mails if it is something important, or you actually leave information.

I just hate it when I check my voice mail, and it is just like "hey, call me back", which is what I would've done anyway. I usually never leave voicemail cause 1. I think it is kinda stupid, and 2. I never like leaving messages anyways.

I think my phone has the option to block advertisements or anonymous text messages. I think I can also have it ask before it downloads the message. I've never tried any of these features, as I've never gotten spammed. I just added the smallest text plan to my phone since I started texting more often, and the rates for individual text messages is kinda ridiculous.

 

What provider do you have? This is the first time I've ever heard of a company that put that amount of control on the user's end in regards to text messaging.

 

maybe they don't work, I have never tried, i have at&t, and a sony ericsson phone.

just under message settings in my phone, I can set autodownload to 'off' or 'always ask', and turn off accept messages from 'advertisements' or 'anonymous'.

maybe I should turn them off and try and text myself from my computer to see if it works.

 

I guess no one here has heard of this class action law suit?

http://gizmodo.com/391985/class-acti...-price-gouging

I very rarely get unsolicited texts but I did happen to get one at 6am this morning, I wasn't very happy about that!

 

 

Have a BB, never used the BB messaging. I just always use the VZW SMS messaging. Am I missing out on something cool?

 

T-Mobile has a spam filter available. Just log-in to "My T-Mobile" and filter away!

 

what provider do you use? are international texts included? AT&T charges .25 for each one. highway robbery.

 

I believe that was what Nite was referring too. Unlimited SMS.


But blackberry messenger is the shit. As long as the people you need to talk to have a BB.

 

I usually don't even check my voice mails. They just pile up and eventually my mailbox gets full. If voice mail wasn't free, I sure as hell wouldn't have it.

 

i hate voicemails too.

one of my favorite features of the iphone is the ability to just delete voicemails right away.

 

I've tried having voice mail removed even though it's free and haven't been able to so I just gave up on it.

My messages pile up as well because I hate checking messages since sending a text can let me know more immediately that you need to talk to me or inform me of something.