Text 8222, 84 rader
Skriven 2010-06-06 16:29:52 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 8137 av David Drummond (3:640/384)
Ärende: Bargeld lacht
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David Drummond wrote to Robert Bashe on Sunday June 06 2010 at 08:23:

MV>>> Mine is always on. What is the point of having one if it is switched
MV>>> off?

RB>> To be able to contact someone in case of emergency, but not be
RB>> bothered by calls _and_ not to advertise your location (you can be
RB>> pinpointed if your phone is on even if it's not in use).

DD> Think of that when you drop one day from a heart attack or similar.
DD> Someone who cares will be able to narrow down my location (hardly
DD> pinpoint) based on which cell towers my handset is connecting to.

There's no Outback in Germany, David. We aren't in need of pinpointing a
location with a cellphone here.

DD> Even if I don't have a heart attack, I will be able to receive voice
DD> calls and SMS messages if my phone is on - after all that is why I
DD> carry it, to facilitate communication.

To facilitate needless yapping, you mean. I know, there are people who can't
bear to be out of touch for even a minute in the day (many of them women). Then
there are people like me who can't stand the feeling of being watched 24h a
day. That's why I turn off my cellphone. I cherish my privacy.

DS>>>> and only costs me about $95 per year.

MV>>> Mine costs me less than EUR 20 a year.

RB>> That much? I repeat myself, but it seems you guys are paying top
RB>> prices for this, assuming you only use the phone for the same reason
RB>> I do, i.e. for emergencies and the occasional (short) call from some
RB>> outdoor location.

DD> If one is not retired and sitting by the phone at home all day a
DD> mobile (cell) phone makes one contactable wherever one is.

Gott sei's geklagt! (God help us all). First of all, many older people actually
do stay at home most of the time. Secondly, many of them don't _want_ to be
reachable 24h a day. They think of the peace and quiet of the good old days,
when others had to actually write letters to stay in touch and couldn't "ring
up" just to shoot the breeze at 3 AM in the morning. I don't answer even
fixed-line phone calls after around 10PM anyway. Nothing is so important it
can't wait until morning.

DD> The deal my phone is on includes a certain amount of outbound
DD> calls/messages in the monthly fee.

That's standard everywhere, whether the balance is in minutes or in
dollars/Euro.

DD> There are deals here that cost nothing per month, one only pays for
DD> usage - albeit at a rather high per minute/second rate. The phone
DD> still accepts inbound calls at no cost to the receiver.

Sounds like the prepaid SIMs here. However, the rate has gone down
precipitously in the last few years. A few years ago, you had to pay EUR 0.39 a
minute for calls inside Germany. Now, if you use a discounter SIM, the rate is
EUR 0.09 a minute, and it's still going down. Same rate for calls and an SMS.
The rate for Internet is, however, still sky-high. Some nerds use it, but most
of us still use a fixed-line DSL connection with a flat rate.

Fixed-line connections inside Germany are usually free (flat rate) or if not
cost less than EUR 0.02 a minute.

DS>>>> I don't believe in cell phones that do all that stuff.

MV>>> I do not believe. Period.

RB>> Atheist, eh? String him up! ;-)))

DD> We prefer to be called "free thinkers"

They burned people like you at the stake a few hundred years ago... ;-)

DD> Is Germany not a secular country?

No, unfortunately. In theory yes, but then you start to look at the political
influence of the churches here. It's way too much in my opinion.

Cheers, Bob

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