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Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

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Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#41

Post by fragmede »

anonymars wrote: post #16
fragmede wrote: post #3

Choosing a carrier device without being on that carrier for the rest of your devices would seem to be the first mistake. Treating the carrier as anything other than dumb pipe seems like the issue here. Going with the Pixel Watch LTE and then doing same custom app development might make more sense for the described use case, but I haven't explored the author's use case thoroughly.

So you blame the victim and also admit you haven't explored the author's use case. Very helpful

The victim is complaining that they were hurt. I seek to empower them to not be hurt further. What are you bringing to the table? Snide comments?

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#42

Post by jitix »

zdw wrote: post #40
anonymousiam wrote: post #26

So the author probably could have migrated if he hadn't used a Google Fi phone number for 2FA. Some banks and businesses (such as Uber) will detect a Google Fi or Google Voice number and not let you use them. Other businesses don't do the detection, but the 2FA texts will never arrive. Like the author, I've got some accounts that I was able to set up for 2FA using a Google account, but 2FA no longer works on them.

Blocking specific service providers in this way should be made illegal. It's an abuse of market power primarily used to eliminate competition.

How is it eliminating market competition? Uber, etc don’t compete with google voice and similar services.

And its a valid reason for preventing scammers. I am literally tired of scammers on every single app. I still want an open internet but I think ALL phone numbers should be tied to real human identity and geolocation. Yes, it seems dystopian but it’s no different than the time when we only had landlines with verified callers. Democracy is as fine back then, maybe even better.

Some structure and verification around telecommunications will go a long way towards improving the experience for everyone even if it hurts the libertarian part of my brain.

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#43

Post by ToucanLoucan »

jitix wrote: post #42
zdw wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blocking specific service providers in this way should be made illegal. It's an abuse of market power primarily used to eliminate competition.

How is it eliminating market competition? Uber, etc don’t compete with google voice and similar services. And its a valid reason for preventing scammers. I am literally tired of scammers on every single app. I still want an open internet but I think ALL phone numbers should be tied to real human identity and geolocation. Yes, it seems dystopian but it’s no different than the time when we only had landlines with verif…

The problem is that scammers juice engagement numbers and everything right now makes money via user engagement. The platforms are incentivized to not punish scammers, spammers, etc. one ounce more than they can manage without pissing off their users.

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#44

Post by dghlsakjg »

mgiampapa wrote: post #17

I feel like this is an edge case where it's less expensive for Verizon to issue a refund than it is to actually fix the problem. Sometimes paying for the problem to go away is the best solution and you get a new thing that works better.

Bold of you to believe that Verizon will issue a refund or can do it successfully if they want.

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#45

Post by LPisGood »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #43
jitix wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it eliminating market competition? Uber, etc don’t compete with google voice and similar services. And its a valid reason for preventing scammers. I am literally tired of scammers on every single app. I still want an open internet but I think ALL phone numbers should be tied to real human identity and geolocation. Yes, it seems dystopian but it’s no different than the time when we only had landlines with verif…

The problem is that scammers juice engagement numbers and everything right now makes money via user engagement. The platforms are incentivized to not punish scammers, spammers, etc. one ounce more than they can manage without pissing off their users.

That’s why platform providers should not be the primary rule makers; there is a fundamental problem of incentives.

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#46

Post by garbagewoman »

Grombobulous wrote: post #36

I hate to blame the victim here, but anyone in the 2020s buying a carrier-branded piece of cellular hardware should have expected this sort of thing. We already learned this lesson back in the days before the iPhone when phones had carrier logos printed on them and GPS apps cost $5/month. Apple Watch Kids Mode is what you want. If the watches cost too much grab a used one. The author complained about the high price i…

They’re not a victim, they’re just being slightly inconvenienced.

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#47

Post by LPisGood »

sulam wrote: post #13
derefr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way are watches with SIMs (or eSIMs) not just tiny cell phones? Or is you meaning that the modern smartphone is itself a “pile of hacks sitting on top of hacks”?

The main way is that literally zero of these watches actually meet the standards that the cell networks require of a cell phone. Every single one of them has a carrier exemption or a lower standard to adhere to, because it turns out that putting a cell phone's RF package into a watch is super hard, both because of size and the various negative effects of the human body on radio signals. This affects cell phones too o…

> various negative effects of the human body on radio signals

I was under the impression radio waves couldn’t interact with biological matter in any meaningful way. Can you share more about this?

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#48

Post by karavelov »

diego_moita wrote: post #24
motbus3 wrote: post #11

Since beginning of 2025 big corps turned to be each time more anti consumer. They feel quite comfortable. I wonder what happened for them to feel like that.

> Since beginning of 2025 I suggest you to study the birth of consumer protection laws on the beginning of the 20th century, such as the birth of the FTC in 1914. It was a time when milk and beer were routinely adulterated, most meat was contaminated and all sorts of cartels did price fixing [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Trade_Commission_Act_o...

So what happened to FTC in 2025 that it’s not doing anymore consumer protection?

Re: Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

#49

Post by Beijinger »

colechristensen wrote: post #35
anonymousiam wrote: post #26

So the author probably could have migrated if he hadn't used a Google Fi phone number for 2FA. Some banks and businesses (such as Uber) will detect a Google Fi or Google Voice number and not let you use them. Other businesses don't do the detection, but the 2FA texts will never arrive. Like the author, I've got some accounts that I was able to set up for 2FA using a Google account, but 2FA no longer works on them.

Google Voice? (and other strictly VoIP services) Absolutely. I've never had a single problem with Google Fi.

Try WISE With Google FI
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