Ring, ring, ring, Obamaphone!

[spidey07]

It's the obamaphone. Did you not see the ads?

 

[SheHateMe]

Holy crap, Batman!

Did the program get opened up? Or is this merely a measure of the economy sucking the big one?

The question I have is...are these stats for the Cellphones only or also for the landlines. The Cellphone did not get added until Bush, so how many people were on the lifeline program just getting landlines before the change and how many people also go the cellphones after the change.

 

[zinfamous]

OK, now I really want an Obamaphone.

:wub:

 

[Yreka]

The question I have is...are these stats for the Cellphones only or also for the landlines. The Cellphone did not get added until Bush, so how many people were on the lifeline program just getting landlines before the change and how many people also go the cellphones after the change.

I would guess is because of the cellphones, but I haven't looked at the entire trend.. It would certainly be much easier to exploit, consider:

Land-line is easy to limit to 1 per household, and exclude toll calling to have a flat rate every month.

Pre-paid cell phones EVERYONE in the household can have one, plus they are burners so each phone only lasts a certain number of minuets.. Its no longer $30 per month per household.. Its now $30 per phone X however many ppl in the house X how fast you can use up the time.

We cannot expect the phone companies to be on the up and up, they get paid for every one they give away. Also, as we have learned in the voter ID thread, we cannot assume US citizens can provide photo identification so you cannot even limit it to 1 person per month..

You can say one per household, but again with no ID one could easily give false addresses or even vacant locations for the other members in your household..
(with landlines this wouldn't work because there would be no benefit to installing in an empty house + someone needs to be there when the guy shows up to install)

 

[werepossum]

The question I have is...are these stats for the Cellphones only or also for the landlines. The Cellphone did not get added until Bush, so how many people were on the lifeline program just getting landlines before the change and how many people also go the cellphones after the change.

That's a good question too. I know we don't have a landline anymore, and when we dropped it we picked up a second cell phone.

I would guess is because of the cellphones, but I haven't looked at the entire trend.. It would certainly be much easier to exploit, consider:

Land-line is easy to limit to 1 per household, and exclude toll calling to have a flat rate every month.

Pre-paid cell phones EVERYONE in the household can have one, plus they are burners so each phone only lasts a certain number of minuets.. Its no longer $30 per month per household.. Its now $30 per phone X however many ppl in the house X how fast you can use up the time.

We cannot expect the phone companies to be on the up and up, they get paid for every one they give away. Also, as we have learned in the voter ID thread, we cannot assume US citizens can provide photo identification so you cannot even limit it to 1 person per month..

You can say one per household, but again with no ID one could easily give false addresses or even vacant locations for the other members in your household..
(with landlines this wouldn't work because there would be no benefit to installing in an empty house + someone needs to be there when the guy shows up to install)

Those are good points as well. Especially with a crappy economy, household sizes increase, so a mass exodus from one land line to multiple cell phones is to be expected anyway as people become more aware of the opportunity to get free phones.

I'd say with anything from the government, one needs strong ID requirements as well as sharp monitoring of those private entities who hand out the largess to avoid fraud. As Reagan said, trust but verify.

 

[brianmanahan]

repost: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2273357

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Sorry to bump this old thread but I saw this and wanted to tack it on for posterity.

The Obama Phone Lady Wakes Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLZuKGTZlEY