My old friend, AT&T, yet what Scumbaggery after all these years

MG Siegler wrote to TechCrunch since 2009. It covers web, mobile, social, big companies, small companies, in fact all. And Apple. A lot. Prior to TechCrunch he covered various technology beats for VentureBeat. Originally from Ohio, mg attended the University of Michigan. He had previously lived in Los Angeles, where he worked in Hollywood and in San Diego where ... ? Read More

19 January 2011. It is a day when I will always remember. This day, I finally got to destroy the Horcrux, lead poverty in my life: AT&T.

This day, I finally canceled my AT&T service after years of missed calls, non-existant Service gross over charges and all around. I even did it before I knew exactly what Verizon getting the iPhone. I have had enough. What should I undo it in Google voice, adding insults, just icing on the cake.  Looking back, it was one of the best solutions, technology-wise, I've done in the past few years. And now he looks even better.

You see, after several months of AT&T time of sight, out of mind, they broke into my brain last night when I read at Engadget that they will eliminate the separate text messaging plans for several days. In AT&T marketing jargon this is called "Optimization". In my jargon this is called "bullshit".

In particular AT&T is cheaper than $ 10 per month option, which provides users with 1000 text messages. All that remains is only $ 20 per month unlimited parameter. Or you can have a predetermined plan and pay $ 0.20 for each SMS and $ 0.30 for each MMS.

Of course, that "Optimization" in that they are now two three options. However, the important reasons for the move.

Here's what's really happening. Naturally AT&T would never allow this, but they are scared shitless fully attacks currently in SMS. You see, these short messages have reached income stream of billions of dollars for carriers, with profits rising to 100 percent for each message. In other words, it has a long history of plagiarism. And carriers milking it dry years.

But now startups as GroupMe, which allows users to bypass the SMS and use the data to send short messages, are gaining popularity. Meanwhile, the massive players like Google and Facebook have introduced their own solutions to bypass SMS. And with the launch of iOS 5 this fall, Apple is going to bake a work-around in every iPhone there as iMessage.

AT&T "Optimization" is purely a defensive maneuver. It is true that neither GroupMe or Facebook Messenger is going to kill SMS per night. No iMessage. But what these services are going to do is slowly but surely people to understand that they should not send nearly as many text messages. I look at my use. In the past six months I sent seven message SMS. 7. all the rest of my short messages are passed through the Beluga, GroupMe, Google app voice or now Facebook Messenger. Each of these messages have been sent or received free of charge (they just use a tiny amount of data you already pay if your 3 G). This is the future.

So now with the services out there to make people less rely on SMS, what happens? People were going to want to drop their plans. Who wants to pay $ 20 a month when you use only a small number of messages? Why not pay the $ 10? Well now you can not. You can either pay $ 20 for unlimited, or have no plan and AT&T funny messages.

AT&T knows that most people are not going to chose the latter. Again we have no point yet where people will be comfortable letting go of SMS. Features all the services I have mentioned using it as a backup in one way or another.

Think of it this way: no SMS is heroin. $ 10 per month limited plan was methadone, which you can use to get rid of. AT&T simply cut off the supply of methadone. They're bold you go cold Turkey. Most will not.

I am sure that this is purely a coincidence that this move is happening right now, just weeks before the start of the iOS iMessage with 5. Of course AT&T "arrange" their SMS plans several months ago, but why not do it again? I am sure he has nothing to do with the fact that Apple unveiled the iMessage without telling carriers. AT&T just felt like the clients you want to change right now.

No, do not miss one bit, AT&T.

Update: not even 2 minutes after I publish my old foil, Seth Bloom wrote in to point out that this change applies only to new customers. In other words, this affects only millions of new users who sign up for AT&T get an iPhone (or any new Android phone, etc.) soon. No biggie.

In other words, part 2: "go ahead, sign up for SMS plan, we dare you."

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My virtual friend awkward, funny and free STD

Jordan Crook studied English literature at the University of New York before entering the tech space. Prior to joining TechCrunch Crook dabbled in mobile marketing and mobile apps, as well as doing reviews for MobileBurn and MobileMarketer. Kruk, fascinated with the production of alternative sources of energy and greentech. It is currently a writer for CrunchGear. ? Read More

Dating sucks. Nine out of ten times your a fan of this reflex. The other ten per cent of the time, they pretend not to be a jerk just to show its true face reflex as a few weeks later. It is a world in which we live, and there's really nothing we can do about it.

Oh wait ... That's right. There are apps for that. Straight ladies and gentlemen gay: wet productions proudly presents my virtual friend app. Yes, you can now find love via a simple download of the App Store, which is no less strange and hilarious. There wouldn't be any fun sexy time as there will be physical boyfriend, but at least you know you'll have 100% of STD-free.

Application is described as a "game", where you work to get a virtual friend fall in love with you concerning his personality. There are more than 100 guys to choose from, all of which are based on various stereotypes of men as the alpha males, geek, urban men (not sure what that means?), metrosexual and a nice guy. From there you can set up his hair, clothes, and even change its name.

Then the game begins. Your virtual friend starts things up by saying something awesomely cheesy as "there should be a light switch on my forehead, because every time I see you, I I turned on" or "they say the pen is mightier than the sword, but it is clear that they had not seen my sword". Saucy. Then the user is given a number of different reactions to it, from smiley thumbs thumbs up anger confused and disgusted face upturned.

Also you have a choice of dates and events, or perform an action such as giving him a compliment or holding hands. If you choose, you will be able to perform certain gestures through contact as poking him in the stomach, caresses his cheek, or my personal favorite, a good slap in the face. Device accelerometer detects when you hold it at an awkward angle and makes your new BF stumble all over the place as there are earthquakes in his little virtual world.

But I don't think that just because your friend virtual that it is not an ass. Depending on what criteria you give at the beginning of the game, your virtual friend may be the tool (check out the screen capture on the right). Fortunately, you can change it to more than one with a few taps. If only you could do it in the real world.

The application is available for $ .99 from Apple App Store and works with the iPad, iPod or iPhone. There is also a free Lite version of my virtual friend, if you would like to get a feel for boy toys before paying. Check out the video after the break.

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