To The Editor:
Shalom. You should know that the battle to get rid of
cellular phones with Internet access is far from over.
First, I was very much shocked to see over this past Shabbat
posters and flyers advertising a computer game (for children)
to play with SMS over the Internet on their cell phones!
Since I am the one to clean up the parsha sheets in my
shul after Shabbat, I took those particular flyers and threw
them promptly into the trash.
There is a great need for much greater unity and
communication between the chareidi and Mizrachi in Israel
today, in the face of common enemies.
Another major problem will come once the kosher SMS phones
become widely available, that people may have trouble
cancelling their cell phone contracts with the cellular
companies in the middle. We may need the support of unity and
the top rabbis to force the three big cellular companies to
agree to it without major financial loss to the public.
While some friends claim that SMS messages are cheaper than
leaving phone messages, I don't see how. Since cell phones do
not have keyboards it is quite an ordeal to type out even a
simple message.
Yet in the long term [the new arrangement] should save money,
if most religious sign up, as you will only be paying for
phone calling, not Internet services you do not want. As
such, I suspect that even many non-religious may also
ultimately join. It should also help reduce the number of
cell phone antennas plaguing urban areas, that the Internet-
capable devices need, but not the kosher, simpler ones.
On the other hand, technological development continues, and
they are constantly adding ever more features to cell phones.
The struggle to keep cell phones as simple telephone devices
will therefore be an ongoing one, until soon we find
ourselves using what everyone else will consider antiquated
technology, like the Amish of Pennsylvania.
Maybe church and Islamic groups will join us in fighting this
trend, and if so, it could help bring some degree of sanity
to this crazy rush to develop and spread technology just for
its own sake or to make money, without considering the larger
social consequences.
Long live simple, old-fashioned cell phones that lack
Internet!
Sincerely,
Clifford Felder
Rechovot
The Editor Replies:
Many observers are not sure of the long-term profitability
of the content services. It may prove to be a flop in the
marketplace for everyone.
