Right now, the carriers continue to enjoy their billion-dollar scam only because we’re not organized enough to do anything about it. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to sit there, waiting to leave your message, listening to a speech recorded by a third-grade teacher on Ambien.

Let’s push back, and hard. We want those time-wasting, money-leaking messages eliminated, or at least made optional.

via From the Desk of David Pogue – Take Back the Beep Campaign – NYTimes.com.

I’m not sure that David Pogue is right about the amount of money made by adding that 15 seconds of airtime (since billing is by minute, not by second), but I agree that it is both annoying and that its purpose is to increase revenue.  I wrote in to Verizon about it.  He makes a good point:  We know what to do at the beep, so why do we need the message?

DOUBLE BILLING In Europe, you’re billed only when you place a cellphone call — not when you answer one. And you’re billed only when you send a text message — not when you get one. In this country, that’s how it’s always been for landlines, too.

Somehow, though, we’ve let the cellphone industry get into the habit of billing both of us. When I call you, a chat that eats up 10 minutes of my airtime allowance also eats up 10 minutes of yours. A text message that costs me 20 cents also costs you 20 cents.

Hello, Senator?

via State of the Art – Cellphone Gripes Worthy of Congress’s Time – NYTimes.com.

This and text message fees are two of my pet peeves. (However, years ago I thought the reasoning for this was that the setting up of the line to the receiving cellphone required more resources than a comparable landline.  That being said, Europe has made receiving calls free for some time, though I think outgoing calls are more expensive.)

See Verizon’s response to this article.