David Pogue, technology writer for the NY Times
has just returned cellular industry conference.
You don't have to be a Svengali to guess he
bemoans the lack of innovation among
American carriers.
Here's a bit from his post that I really enjoyed:
"P.S. ... As longtime Pogue's Posts readers know, my biggest
cellular pet peeve is the endless recording you hear when you
reach someone's voicemail: "To page this person, press 2 now.
You may leave a message at the tone. When you finish
recording, you may hang up. Or press 5 for more options"- and
so on.
At the conference, I asked one cellular executive if that
message is deliberately recorded slowly and with as many
words as possible, to eat up your airtime and make more ARPU
for the cell carrier. I was half kidding - but he wasn't
fooling around in his reply: "Yes."
