Who needs voice minutes?
I was reading Techdirt today, and I ran across this post. It crystallized to me what I dislike so much about talking on the phone, especially making unscheduled calls to other people.
I know that when I get an unsolicited phone call, it’s annoying and invasive. It context switches me away from whatever I’m doing, and you cannot politely get rid of a caller in less that 30 seconds to a minute, no matter what. This means that I’m interrupted for at least that long. In addition, a phone call is invasive for everyone else around you. Your phone rings (which everyone hears), and they all instinctively check to see if it’s their phone (context switching them briefly) and then you have to answer, and they have to listen to you talk, distracting everyone.
All this means that I severely dislike making phone calls, unless the call is scheduled or is calling someone whose job it is to answer the phone. Which means I rarely call people; which means I don’t need cell minutes. This month, I’ve use 77 minutes, 20 of which were calling my insurance company about a claim on my car. Last month, I used 25 minutes. So why am I spending $50/mo. on voice for my phone?
In a world where people become less and less likely to call other people (as opposed to businesses), do large, pre-paid voice plans make sense? If not, how badly are we going to be gouged on our data plans in the future, when the phone companies can’t charge us huge amounts for unused voice minutes?
