(no subject)
Jan. 8th, 2021 11:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brin_bellway"Signal uses your phone's data connection so you can avoid SMS and MMS fees."
In what fucking *universe* is mobile data cheaper than SMS?
I am aware of four basic categories of mobile-phone plan: "SMS is expensive; mobile data is even more expensive", "the marginal SMS is free; mobile data is moderately expensive", "the marginal SMS and the marginal megabyte are both free, but the *base* monthly price is incredibly high", and the Chatr $35/month plan (which is still a lot compared to the ~$12/month† of a basic Public Mobile plan).
Look, I'm all in favour of encryption, but encouraging people to treat SMS and data-based texting as interchangeable and to default to using data sounds frankly *dangerous*. I have had a vision of the future in which I join Signal, and it's me desperately trying to get it through people's heads under which circumstances they need to use insecure mode when contacting me, *failing* to get it through their heads, and missing time-sensitive messages because people tried to send them to me over a nonexistent Internet connection.
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†depending on how many discounts you qualify for; maximum cost is $15
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(edit: part 2)
In what fucking *universe* is mobile data cheaper than SMS?
I am aware of four basic categories of mobile-phone plan: "SMS is expensive; mobile data is even more expensive", "the marginal SMS is free; mobile data is moderately expensive", "the marginal SMS and the marginal megabyte are both free, but the *base* monthly price is incredibly high", and the Chatr $35/month plan (which is still a lot compared to the ~$12/month† of a basic Public Mobile plan).
Look, I'm all in favour of encryption, but encouraging people to treat SMS and data-based texting as interchangeable and to default to using data sounds frankly *dangerous*. I have had a vision of the future in which I join Signal, and it's me desperately trying to get it through people's heads under which circumstances they need to use insecure mode when contacting me, *failing* to get it through their heads, and missing time-sensitive messages because people tried to send them to me over a nonexistent Internet connection.
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†depending on how many discounts you qualify for; maximum cost is $15
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(edit: part 2)
no subject
Date: 2021-01-08 07:34 pm (UTC)Last I checked there is exactly one speedcapped plan in Canada (the Chatr $35/month plan I mentioned in the OP; you can also pay more than $35 in exchange for more data before the speed throttling kicks in). I knew it was the norm in the US, but I think Americans still have essentially the same four-category system I described above, just with a lot more plans in category #4.
(I do not currently have *any* phone plan, but after I graduate I'm planning to get the $12†† Public Mobile plan, which is unlimited SMS + unlimited incoming calls + 100 minutes of outgoing calls + 250 MB of data. (After 250 MB they cut you off unless you've pre-paid for additional data (indefinite rollover, lasts until used) at $15/GB. This is a big improvement: it used to be $30/GB. They also now fairly routinely give away a free GB of indefinite-rollover data once or twice a year if you pay enough attention to their news page to know when there are promo codes to claim.))
I tend to be of the opinion that unlimited-but-slow data plans are good (relative to limited-but-fast) and we should have more of them. The only thing that really concerns me is that people might get complacent if they have Internet access at all times, necessity being the mother of invention and all that, but that's pretty much never been a good enough reason to not do something before. And honestly it seems like a lot of Canadians have managed to get complacent about reliable Internet *despite* a lack of unlimited mobile options, so it probably isn't even helping build character very much.
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†that one I use is maybe not suitable for Europe, but there's a bunch of similar ones out there and one of them probably fits better ↩
††about €8, give or take cost of living ↩