Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!pprg.unm.edu!hc!lll-winken!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: bunny!sg04@gte.com (Steven Gutfreund) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Some notes on the UK phone system Message-ID: Date: 20 Mar 89 16:28:54 GMT Sender: news@vector.UUCP Organization: GTE Laboratories, Waltham MA Lines: 23 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 100, message 5 of 7 In article , OLE@csli.stanford.edu (Ole J. Jacobsen) writes: > My most favorite aspect of the Britsih phone system is the PhoneCard. > It is a green credit card-sized card which comes in different values > (20 units, 100 units, etc.). Put one in the special PhoneCard phones > and dial away *anywhere*. There is no minimum charge, and you can > talk until the "money" runs out (1 unit = 10p). Of course, if you > call international, the units tick down pretty fast (as displayed > on the phone), but the system does have advantages over 0+ dialling > and other schemes which require surcharges and minimum deposits. I'm not so sure that PhoneCards are such a great idea. The Japanese took this idea and applied it to their entire service sector. Now you have cards for groceries, restaurants, beauty parlors, etc. In effect you go from a "type-less" form of money to a stongly typed form of money. I like my money to be typeless, it allows me to switch retailers and does not force me to pre-pay. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Yechezkal Shimon (Steven) Gutfreund sgutfreund@bunny.UUCP GTE Laboratories, Waltham MA sgutfreund@gte.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=