Sunday, February 17, 2013
Assignment 3B-part 2
Pre-paid cell phones. We have reviewed many advantages of using pre-paid cell phones in class as well as in our assigned readings. Some of those advantages include anonymity, difficulty in tracing and tracking calls. I can think of a couple of other advantages. For some people having a pre-paid phone helps with budgeting. There is a finite number of calls/texts that can be made and received helping to avoid going over budget. When that limit has been reached the phone is shut off until more minutes have been purchased. For those individuals that struggle with budgeting this method of phone use is very effective. Poor credit is another reason some choose to use pre-paid phones. Some may not meet the credit qualifications needed to sign up for a new phone contract, especially if their is a poor payment history in the past. I can also see their use while traveling or if a phone is needed for strictly emergency purposes. I think that if the government feels that national security could be improved by eliminating unregistered phones there would need to be away to make pre-paid phones still available, even if registered, to those that have legitimate uses for them.
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I agree with your reasons why people may need pre-paid phones. Some people simply can't afford a continuous plan so they pay monthly, perhaps even weekly. It isn't fair to take away a service that some people may need because they can't afford anything else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your reasons on poor credit to get a pre paid phones and making them still available. Also, I agree with you that many people use them for daily events and if the national security wanted to ban them they would need to make them still available.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your reason for having them as well. I wrote a similar piece to this, however I didn't think of judging people's ability to retrieve them via checking their credit. I definitely agree with your standpoint.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you reasons for having prepaid cellphones for those who can not afford a full plan. However, it is also a problem that people are using these devices to do bad things. I am not a huge fan of the idea that anyone can buy and use these products because if they have to say something that is so private or are calling someone that is so private that it can't be tracked than it makes me wonder what they are doing/who they are talking to. I personally think that those who are in a tight bind economically should be able to request the use of these types of phones from the government or at least a group that helps to support those who are less fortunate.
ReplyDeleteI agree that prepaid cell phones seem to be a necessary evil. Having a certain number of texts and calls a month could be useful to those on a tight budget, as well as teaching teenagers with cell phones to not use all their minutes and texts too fast, something my mother would have been happy for me to learn earlier in life. I also agree that it wouldn't be fair to take prepaid phones away from people with poor credit and who can't afford a contract phone. If we (those of us who have a cell phone, which is safe to say our whole class) would have a hard time living without a cell phone, or a way of communicating, then it is grossly wrong to expect those who are less fortunate than us to do without.
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