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The first minute of every phone call is torture now

theatlantic.com

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Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#211

Post by happyopossum »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #149
midoridensha wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's a _phone_. Phone calls are it's primary function. No, it's not. You sound like a dinosaur. A phone's primary functions are 1) text-messaging apps, 2) camera, 3) dating apps, 4) banking apps, and various others. Phone calls are somewhere around #20.

Not according to the mobile OS engineering teams at Apple or Google. Phone calls are intentionally given priority over other functions.

> Not according to the mobile OS engineering teams at Apple

Phone calls haven't forced full screen takeovers for several years on iOS, and have the same UX as 3rd party VoIP and Video call apps...

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#212

Post by mlyle »

yabones wrote: post #201
jaywalk wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Audio quality on cellular is widely variable. If both ends support VoLTE/HD Voice, the audio quality is actually superior to analog.

VoLTE with fancy compression didn't make audio quality better, it just freed up bandwidth for carriers to cram more channels in. This has repeated for every single "improvement" in VoIP technology over its ~40 year history, the tradeoff always goes in the direction of making more money instead of offering better service.

VoLTE doesn't do it on its own.

If you're calling within the same carrier with "HD voice", AMR-WB at 12.65kbps scores a higher MOS than old-school G.711 64kbps PCM (and is more pleasing in some ways that the MOS doesn't capture).

Sure, if they'd just give us another couple dang kilobits/second it'd be way better still, but...

At this point, the bandwidth used for voice is pretty much irrelevant from a cellular capacity planning point of view-- people use >5GB/month on average and 24/7 12kbps calling is less than 5GB/month.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#213

Post by daviross »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #105
pavlov wrote: post #22

Phone calls should have a subject line, just like emails. It’s crazy that anyone can force a full-screen interrupt on my personal device with no context. If call metadata included a subject line, software could automatically screen out calls where the subject is empty or spammy, just like with email. It would be very helpful for missed calls. “Why did my wife call twice in the last 5 minutes, did something happen, sh…

“Receiver anxiety” should crawl off into the forest. It’s a youth-millennial thing that inhibits waaaay too much authentic social action. People are just too scared to be human. Just call me! I might pick up I might not. For that matter, if I don’t respond to your email in a day, treat it like a phone call and just try again. Don’t assume I’m ignoring you. It’s just e-mail.

> if I don’t respond to your email in a day, treat it like a phone call and just try again. Don’t assume I’m ignoring you.

I mean... aren't you ignoring them? It's an email. Where'd the first one go that the second one is going to be any different?

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#214

Post by hdesh »

diob wrote: post #6

I was out of the country last month. Absolutely no spam on my "in country" sim there. Just exactly what I asked for, useful calls and texts. The moment I got back, I was inundated with spam and texts. I don't understand how we've let it get this bad in the USA.

Perhaps your "in country" number was not circulated well enough in the spam networks in a duration of one month?

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#216

Post by aikendrum »

filoleg wrote: post #204
tristor wrote: post #188

I have never had any of the issues described in this article and I've been using AirPods w/ an iPhone and a MacBook since AirPods came out. My issue with phone calls is 1. Robocalls 2. Robocalls 3. Robocalls 4. Robocalls 5. Robocalls I've been all over the world, and it is straight up fucked how bad this issue is in the US and it's not like this elsewhere. It's completely fixable, but American telcos make money off l…

> I've been all over the world, and it is straight up fucked how bad this issue is in the US and it's not like this elsewhere. Not trying to defend US or its telecoms here, but I think it has more to do with scammers trying to maximize for profit. Just like with malware heavily targeting Windows instead of macOS/Linux, or some apps prioritizing iOS instead of Android (by either launching as iOS-only and then introduc…

This is nothing to do with low or high income countries. Europe exists. I've lived (and had local phones) in Ireland, Germany and the UK. I've never had a spam call. I've had less than 10 spam texts ever. The US (from an outsider perspective) just doesn't seem to enforce consumer protections in general.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#217

Post by CGamesPlay »

joshstrange wrote: post #203
VBprogrammer wrote: post #172

I expected this to be about the now common pattern of subjecting people to some shit version of Alexa for 10 minutes before you eventually crack and allow them to sit on hold for someone who might actually be able to solve their problem. Bonus shit biscuits if you allow them to get to some answer from Brenda (the brainless Alexa clone) where you basically say "great news, you can do this online". As if anyone with ha…

Agreed, the 2 most annoying thing for me when I have to call into a business: 1. "You can find the answers you need online at our website: w w w dot our business name dot com" - First I would never call if I could do what I needed online, second get me to the menu already. I hate waiting 30-60sec+ for a prerecorded message that doesn't tell me anything new. 2. "We are experiencing higher than normal call volume" - Bu…

Normally we have no calls. Then you came along. Our on call is getting dressed, just a few minutes.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#218

Post by zinekeller »

filoleg wrote: post #204
tristor wrote: post #188

I have never had any of the issues described in this article and I've been using AirPods w/ an iPhone and a MacBook since AirPods came out. My issue with phone calls is 1. Robocalls 2. Robocalls 3. Robocalls 4. Robocalls 5. Robocalls I've been all over the world, and it is straight up fucked how bad this issue is in the US and it's not like this elsewhere. It's completely fixable, but American telcos make money off l…

> I've been all over the world, and it is straight up fucked how bad this issue is in the US and it's not like this elsewhere. Not trying to defend US or its telecoms here, but I think it has more to do with scammers trying to maximize for profit. Just like with malware heavily targeting Windows instead of macOS/Linux, or some apps prioritizing iOS instead of Android (by either launching as iOS-only and then introduc…

> Why would a scammer focus on targeting low-disposable-income countries, if they, on average, can extract as much money from one US person as they would have to from 10-15 people in Phillipines.

I don't think anyone disputes this, but apart from Canada (which has a largely similar telco structure) no other developed country has this plague of undesirable robocalls. You could probably net a similar payout in the UK or Germany but as far as I'm aware there isn't a robocall problem in Europe (and the only problem that is remotely telephone-related is those scare scams where a malicious ad displays a number to be called, not the other way around).

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#219

Post by happyopossum »

pavlov wrote: post #22

Phone calls should have a subject line, just like emails. It’s crazy that anyone can force a full-screen interrupt on my personal device with no context. If call metadata included a subject line, software could automatically screen out calls where the subject is empty or spammy, just like with email. It would be very helpful for missed calls. “Why did my wife call twice in the last 5 minutes, did something happen, sh…

> It’s crazy that anyone can force a full-screen interrupt on my personal device with no context

Is this 2018? C'mon - phone calls don't actually do full screen takeovers on your device anymore, do they?

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#220

Post by gort19 »

ryandrake wrote: post #192
midoridensha wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's a _phone_. Phone calls are it's primary function. No, it's not. You sound like a dinosaur. A phone's primary functions are 1) text-messaging apps, 2) camera, 3) dating apps, 4) banking apps, and various others. Phone calls are somewhere around #20.

The way I like to look at it is: Imagine a world where the concept of a phone call never existed. Then, suddenly someone invents an app that: 1. Allows an instant, full-screen foreground takeover over whatever else you are currently doing on the device 2. Rings and vibrates your device 3. Has a button that could allow an unknown person to send and receive audio to and from your device 4. All of this is triggered remo…

I assume you are using android or some ancient version of iOS.

Currently on iOS, #1 is not done by any app including the phone, and #2-#4 are in fact allowed by App Store apps.

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