(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
---
(edit: part 2)
no subject
Date: 2021-01-08 10:35 pm (UTC)(I just looked at them again and Twigby's plans start at $20, which translates to about €16, *and* it comes with unlimited talk and text! They'll try to sell you on their flex plans where you stay on fast data and at the end of the month they charge you for whichever quantity tier you ended up using that month, but you can just say no and they'll leave you on the lowest price tier and give you free slow data instead.)
The United States has *lovely* data availability. No, the thing that's *actually* bullshit about your mobile-phone system is the rampant use of carrier locks. (Canada outlawed carrier-locking several years ago.)