Greedy Capitalist

How long do you think you will be able to screw the consumer over?

All these separate plans and options and gotchas designed to screw us will eventually no longer work. It is all just data.. even though you have society tricked into spending 5 cents for a dammed glorified email.

No wireless carrier will sell me just a data plan. They won’t allow data by itself because they want to ensure that you are paying for text messaging, voice and any other number of made up services (like a monthly GPS “service”).… they all have issues. I don’t need phone service so why should I be charged an extra 30-50$ a month? If I get a Data only account for a laptop and put the SIM card into my phone they will see that it is not the right type of device for the service and hassle me. The best way I could come up with before the T-Mobile plan was to get a WiFi hotspot and then connect my phone via WiFi. I was going to get a Smartphone from any carrier and use it with a MiFi from Comcast (30$ a month). However the phone I have is capable of being a MiFi hotspot by itself so why should I carry two devices?..Because they won’t sell me a plan for it … It just makes no sense other than from the perspective of screwing over ignorant customers.

I thought I finally had a way around their bullshit with the T-Mobile 30$ monthly pre pay 5Gig data/Unlimited Text/100 min voice plan. I respect T-Mobile for giving me better options. Since October I have had this service and only used ..0 minutes, 0 texts, and no more than 500MB a month. Because I use Google voice and VOIP on my Android device I barely need to use anything from T-Mobile (or whatever provider). The service is just there for data between WiFi networks.

Since I moved away from a subsidized iPhone and AT&T to this T-Mobile pre pay plan with an outright purchased Samsung Galaxy S2 I am saving 60$ a month and I had about the cheapest iPhone plan you could get because of the bullshit restrictions and gotchas required for the “privilege” to own an iPhone. Since switching I am gaining:

1. Freedom from Apple’s Stalin like control over the platform.
2. 4G (It’s not just an Apple model name) …I’m getting 20-25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload in my area most of the time.
3. The ability to load custom operating systems. Like the developers that ripped the CarrierIQ application out that was in the news recently because the carriers think they have complete spying rights or adding back VOIP features that the carriers decided had no business being on a phone.
4. Use applications & features that only would be developed under an attitude of freedom like a bitcoin client.
5. Use an SD card….and many other technical plusses.
6. Superior hardware (in my opinion).
7. Did I mention 60$ a month in my pocket.

The Plan I got From T-Mobile fits my requirements , it is cheap and very data centric. The 100 minutes for voice is designed in such a way that they are counting on you to go over minuets if you use your phone service. Here are the few areas I have found where they are still trying to screw the consumer:

1. Because the service is Pre Pay they visual Voicemail application will not work. This is because they want to help you to burn through your 100Min. Not an issue for me as the only VM are wrong numbers that are not caught by Google Voice. My normal Voicemails comes into my inbox as a WAV file or transcribed (I think T-Mobile charges for transcribing as well).
2. WiFi calling from T-Mobile will not work .. the whole concept T-Mobile has for WiFi calling is stupid anyway. When I first heard about it I thought T-Mobile was ahead of the curve of realizing that they are just a data network provider but then the details came out. It’s only purpose is to alleviate reception issues that would only be resolved by them building up their network. So they are charging you to help reduce their network bandwidth… brilliant…If it did not count against your minuets it would make sense for the consumer but as it is it’s just a waste of a good technology. There are plenty next to free VOIP solutions for carriers not to charge for making calls over WiFi but AT&T does the same thing. In fact, AT&T has you pay for a little mini cell tower device then.. you have to provide it with power and internet then get separate minuets for it…all to get around AT&T’s crappy network in your area.
3. Data Roaming does not exist… I only discovered this during a road trip for Xmas to the boonies and it is the only issue that really aggravates me. Apparently another way they tried to hobble the service was making it so that you can only use data in areas with direct network coverage.

All said and done I am only using 200-500Meg a month of data… That is a sweet deal for T-Mobile @ 30$ a month for little usage. They would make a killing if everyone was like me. They can’t come up with a plan that doesn’t try to jack me around? I predict the first carried that drops the BS and goes to a data as the primary service model will get a mass influx from the newer generations that just shake their head at the idea of paying for text messages and ring tones.

I bought Apple stock the day I bought the iPhone and now I am thinking I need to sell it because it just doesn’t make sense that it can continue upward being the most valuable company in the world. It may not happen soon but eventually they will no longer be able to extract the insane premium that they are used to (from consumers or carrier subsidies).

Apple is aligned with the companies that want to screw over the consumer and not the consumer. Leaving Siri out of IOS to sell more 4Gs’s when the minions were going to buy it anyway. I could not even use my iPhone as an iPod after I got rid of my “monthly rape” AT&T service. I think the tech honeymoon will be over eventually and the little prick decisions the company continues to make will sour the relationship with the average consumer. Good riddance the both of ya..

It is clear that society is moving in the direction of cashless transactions and I cannot see anything that can stop it. There are benefits for paying with credit for items such as points or miles that make you feel like you are not getting all the benefits of the transaction if you use cash. Sometimes I get a dirty look like I am some kind of rube if I pay for coffee with cash at a coffee chain that shall rename unnamed….

I think the government and marketing people find it beneficial as well to have a complete history of every transaction to put into databases to data mine for whatever or track you and your movements. I think It is clearly in the governments interest to continue on this path. After all the government did convince the people to turn in their gold (by threat of fines and prison) for paper certificates then 40 years later make the currency no longer backed by gold (this counts as a back door theft in my logic). Visa and MasterCard are doing the government a favor here. Now we turn in paper money to banks and they give us a singular piece of plastic that represents all the mythical dollars floating around out there (always more floating around then there was the day before). This is all part of a progression.. there is no stopping it. We can however keep ahead by owning a company that will benefit greatly from this transition. This is like another form of sales tax that goes to a company instead of the government.

Visa and MasterCard are the two major players I see here, there of course is American Express and Discover but they are also related to the credit side of the business as well as the transaction. I my logic for going with Visa over MasterCard may be flawed but MasterCard had already been public and had a big run up so I went with Visa even though on the flip side they did a much larger IPO. I look at these two as almost the same in the long term and in the future if I see a reason to switch one for the other I will.

Oh… there is also PayPal but it is kind of a black sheep in the group and it is owned by EBay and I think in the grand scheme of things they have a niche but Visa / MasterCard is more likely to displace PayPal then PayPal is to displace them.

I have been in Visa since it came public in 2008 in the 50$s. I bought initially at 55$ and 60$ then sold a bunch near the highs. When everything was collapsing in early in 2009 I found it easy to buy more since they make their money on transactions and not interest as allot of people mistakenly think. This to me is a stock that I will hold for the next 20-30 years. This does not have the huge upside potential like a small cap stock however I do see growth for this already established company as the rest of the world comes online as a cashless globe.