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The recently-engaged street artist Posterchild has an idea for the city's payphone network. He declares since the payphones have basically become nothing more than an "adverting-revenue generating platform, then they should make all local calls free."
Tourists could avoid roaming charges, non-cell phone users (what?) could get in touch with people via telephone, and when your iPhone battery dies you could still make your call right there on the street. He calls his idea "FreePhone" and says that there would even be user-friendly dialing options. For instance, dialing "cab" would get you a taxi, dialing "info" would connect you to a tourism help desk, etc.
But maybe they should be free WiFi stations? What would you do with the city's payphones... or are they doomed to become extinct like the booths before them?
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Use a public phone that's free? I'd rather lick a toilet seat in the Port Authority.
Free or no I shall continue to stay on the other side of the sidewalk.
I think it makes sense. Times have changed. The kiosks were put up just for the advertising revenue. Let the owners of those phones allow free calls or lose the space.
The only time I ever see payphones being used is when someone is peeing in them.
this is why artists generally don't make any money.
I like this idea.
Why should we give tourists free phone calls? I'm happy they contribute their roaming charges and call taxes or whatever into out economy. Thank you very much! Are they going to give us something for free in their country? Probably not, so let's keep it this way - it's working out nicely.
Also, who the f*ck dials a cab? You either see one or you don't. A cab you *call* is called a "car service" and that's not really a cab izzit?
"A cab you *call* is called a "car service" and that's not really a cab izzit?"
Been seeing ads for this around town:
http://www.poundtaxi.com/
Yes -- the many thousand dollars they spend while they're here will be turned on its head by that quarter we're giving away.
Roaming charges?
What... what year is it again?
Ah, now I understand. I followed the above link to his site, where he writes:
"It would be a great thing for tourists trying to avoid steep roaming charges. As a non-cellphone owner I would LOVE it."
So as a non-cellphone owner he's not only one of the tiny number of people who would benefit from it, but he also doesn't realize that roaming charges have pretty much disappeared, at least for any tourists from other part of the U.S.
It may surprise you to learn that many tourists don't come from America.
It may surprise you to learn that I ended my comment with the phrase "at least for any tourists from other part of the U.S."
Why are there still pay phones again? Only bums and foreigners use them to pee or call another country, respectively.
And don't get me started on the foreign bums!
There are still payphones because they are valuable as street-level advertising that skirts normal billboard regulations. In other words, they are put up because their ostensive status as a public utility lets them put more ads in your face.
No one is using the phone part of the payphone anyway, so why not make it a free utility to help out people who can't afford cellphones or Tourists who'd get hit with big roaming charges?
Yeah... on second thought,
Keep the advertising, turn 'em into urinals!
Now that's an idea that'd generate a nickel...except that project seems stalled, too.
I think all landlines should be free. That infrastructure was paid for how long ago?
They've been free in Cuba for 50 years. But so has medical service, education, transportation, and arts programs.
This would never work in America.
yeah i agree. nobody should ever have to pay for anything. sometimes i get so pissed when i'm at the grocery store buying things. they have the balls to ask me for payment of my food. i think food should be free, too. is it free in cuba? wait, who's going to pay for anything if nobody has to pay for anything? oh i get it, the government will. wait, but where does the government get its money? oh yeah, from us. wait, so aren't we really paying for things? this economics stuff is tough. there's gotta be a way where everything is free for everybody
Not even half-baked. "Let's fight for it"? Just start your own Freephone company.
Oh, but that sounds hard and stuff. It would be, like, work. Bummer.
Unless the city is making serious coin off these advertising kiosks (when was the last time you saw someone actually making a call in one?), I say tear 'em out. Do New Yorkers need more advertising? Are miniature billboards really the best use of precious sidewalk real estate? Their time has come and gone.
I prefer that advertising to the damn lcd screens above the subway entrances.
They're quite useful to duck into and smoke a little weed.
Bam!
I've seen people either use it for a quick weed hit or toilet.
Or both.
this makes a lot of sense to me - very useful! never know when that cell phone is gonna die on ya. when do you ever have 35 cents when you need it, anyway? is it still 35 cents?
Google is already rumored to be playing around with this idea for VOIP service. So yeah, you can probably look forward to a day where you can go to a payphone, listen to an ad before your call is placed and talk on the phone for free for like 5 minutes.
Pay phones are definitely necessary. Just because you never use a pay phone, doesn't mean that other people are the same as you.
Sometimes my phone dies, or I leave it at home, or I lose it. Or, I want to make a call where there is no reception, such as on a train platform. Remember, cell phones stopped working on 9/11 and the blackout, but pay phones worked just fine during those times.
Whenever I travel, I am always using pay phones in other countries, so I'm sure people do the same here. I have seen pay phone in other countries that allow you to send text messages, and to do simple internet communication such as email. That would be great.
Some payphones ARE free. They have built in ads that play when you amke a call.
Posterchild for mayor!
Remember Beepers