Prudence and Madness

I bet almost all sms message aficionados are all clapping and jumping with joy when they’ve read in the newspaper or heard in the radio that the government is making a move to make sending text messages free. It’s even “willing to lose billions in revenues“! And that’s what they’re also telling the telecoms to do.

And I say, “kalokohan!”

Let me tell you this, I do still remember the days when using SMS was free. That was in 1998 (or even earlier) when most people were still using “beepers” or “pagers” and very few are using cellphones to make calls. There was text messaging, but only few were using it probably because there were few cellphone units then (remember the bulky, pencil-case like or boxy models of Motorola?) or probably because it wasn’t the hip thing to do (yet). And for the few who have discovered its various utility, it was almost an orgasmic activity. Imagine being able to use the service to chitchat with a friend without having to spend a peso to make a call in the phonebooth and in the comfort of one’s bedroom; being able to cheat during the exams because professors thought that you’re using a calculator; to tell someone your intimate feelings without having to face them or talk to an operator; to be able to plan and organize, without being in a place or on the phone at the same time. Imagine the possibilities.

Well, well, then the market became flooded with more advanced cellphones with better LCD screens, text messaging capabilities, and even games. At that time, almost everybody at the tambayan has the latest cellphone model. And were texting, because it was free. And it has become the “in” thing. It also marked the birth of mushy quotes, fancy text graphics, and the dreadful “can u b my txtm8?” messages (and its variations) because people just have nothing more to do.

It was fun, I know, because I got in that craze too.

But certainly, people who’ve witnessed the beginning of this new way of communication also remember that it was also in the late 90’s that the Dark Age of “message sending failed” have begun. Failing to send a message have almost become the norm it became a common excuse for not acting upon a received message. “Wala ako natanggap na message. Baka sending failed ka.” (translation: I didn’t receive the message. Maybe it failed to be sent.) All because there was a sudden ballooning of the number of users of SMS, perhaps more than what the telecoms must have anticipated.

And now with the proposal that telecommunications company should provide this messaging service for free (because according to our intelligent PMS head, Cerge Remonde, telecoms shouldn’t be profiting from it), I fear that we’re going to go back to the Dark Ages.

The government is expecting these telecommunications company not to earn from services that they’re providing. If they’re going to push through with this, people may get their free sms, but cellphone subscription rates will blow sky-high, putting more burden on people, instead of relief.

Are proposals like this a manifestation of how oafish our government officials have become? Or is it just because 2010 is looming near? I say remember caution. Always.

But it seems to the sheep of this country, they’ll never take notice just because they’ve got something that is “free”…a service that they’ll be enjoying even if they don’t pay for it. But then, who says there is such thing as “right to free texts”?

Ah, the oafs!