Sunday, July 02, 2006
Paying and paying...
I just got a notice from ATT, my Internet provider, that my fees will be increased. Because I've been a loyal customer for a year, they will increase the fees they charge. (The uselessness of loyalty in today's corporate world is another story.)
Ever since 1901 when Gillette started his razor company, the world has been moving towards buy a little, then keep buying for a long time. This really came into being within the past several years. Think about what you pay for every month now that you used to be able to pay for once. Cable/satellite TV, satellite radio, cell phones (yes, phones have always been a pay as you go, but nothing like today), internet, car leases, video rentals, memberships and more. And the costs are pretty steep.
My $100 printer uses $25 ink cartridges. If you have a cell phone you will pay extra for text messages, local and long distance calls, games, Internet access and more. They will even charge you for the phone ring! If some brain-damaged nitwit calls me by mistake and I answer, I have to pay. That really sucks and pisses me off.
I work in a telecom company so most people there are fairly knowledgable and like to follow the trends. They'll talk to me assuming I have cable TV and are pretty surprised when they find out I don't. I haven't looked lately, but it seems like most cable bills are approaching $100 a month these days. You can get sports packages, movie packages, TiVo recording and more - as long as you pay for it. And after paying all that, you can pay even more for pay-on-demand events. It's not enough you pay $100 a month for cable and all it's extras, they also expect you to pay $30-50 for a couple-hour long sports event.
