One-handed SMS on the Tram While Speaking in Another Language

SMS’s, smsičky, or texts are a common and sometimes preferred way to communicate in Europe. Little known to Americans is that it is available on most of those networks as well. The general limitation of the American sms’s is that they can only be sent to others with the same provider. I know it is completely incomprehensible, since sms’s are literally emails, and all of the phones in America have email addresses. The problem is too deep to comprehend, not really because it is not a technical problem. In Europe, prices are so high and talk time so limited; that a 140 character message is a cheaper and less invasive way of communicating.

Their claimed justification to the price is that they only pay for outbound calls. Mathematics Gymaziums must be so proud, with the nearly complete lack of grasp arithmetic by so many people. Typical CDMA packages include 5000 minutes per month and free nights and weekends 19:00 to 07:00. In Europe, they sell for the same price 100 minutes of talk time on their GSM phones. Sms’s are the same price around 3czk (US$ 0.10) per message. The price difference does not add up to me, but what is new about that? Due to the volume of money flowing threw Czech it is understandable that they use the cheapest way possible, even if it is so much more expensive. Penny-pinching and tax evasion are such popular national sports that they even make hockey seem a minority sport.

Many companies vie for cell phone service in Czech. Certainly, there is a broad-spectrum of services and fee structures available, unless of course you are a foreigner. By Czech law no one can enter into a contract longer than their visa. Since most non-residency visas are ten or eleven months, it is difficult to get a contract. Given the cost, contracts may not be any less expensive in the long-run than “pay as you go” services. Strangely, the nationalized company does not have the best pricing, but has the best and seemingly most reliable coverage throughout the country. There are more popular companies that target young people and students that are much less expensive. At a rock-bottom price something has to give, sometimes it seems that they only bought three towers outside of the Prague and Brno. Beware, if you are likely to shave a couple of crowns off of a bill by counting haleřů, signal quality may vary significantly through the countryside.

Given all of this, it is remarkable the sheer number of messages that they send every hour. Sms’s are so common, that people rarely fear phone thieves as they type away on their cell phones. During the summer the sound of Oskar’s sms cash register can almost be heard. More surprising, is when you realize they are typing away on their cell phones while talking to their friends. Still more surprising is that they are speaking Czech with their friends and typing their sms’s English, German or some other language without looking at the screen. Czech girls have skills.