werner@utastro.UUCP (09/19/83)
Re: Transmission of caller's phone number > From: Anonymous@inmet.UUCP > Subject: Re: Re: Transmission of caller's phone n - (nf) > > 1) I am willing to accept anonymous calls - WHY NOT! > 2) I want calls placed from here to be labelled anonymous - ABSOLUTELY! So you are and so you do. Hmmm, as the caller knows my number (obviously) I want to know his - only fair, isn't it ??!! What are you afraid of, anyway ?? Posting as Anonymous, and not wanting me to know where you are calling from ?? Very weird, indeed. I am quite adamant about wanting to know the number of the phone I am being called from, it is a form of protection I feel I need and am paying for with my monthly phone bill already. At my door, I can see who is calling, and get to decide if I care or dare to answer. At the office, nobody calls or walks in unannounced. Only the company number is published, not the number where I can be reached during office hours. Short of a personal secretary answering the phone at home for me, there is really little in the whole present set-up that is in my favor, the one who is paying for the damn phone in the first place. I must pay extra for an unlisted phone (shouldn' that be cheaper ??) - something I don't want anyway, because the system where I should hand out my phone number to all those people against whose call I have no objection, is really detrimental to the purpose of the phone in the first place. Allowing people to contact me for "urgent" reasons - or vice-versa. I see no reason why I should be able to hide the number I am calling from. (Anyway, there is always the public phone booth) That would at least put a stop to those cursed political and commercial calls, where the callers refuse to properly identify themselves or a number where I can call them to request a stop to this intrusion. Honestly, I can't think of any circumstance under which I would regret not wanting to be disturbed by the call from someone unwilling to let me know the number he is calling me from. Anyway, he can always write an anonymous letter, if he so desires, and I don't mind that ( I might mind the contents, of course, but that is a different matter ) And a system where the caller must type in his number ( scout's honour system?) or an assigned "secret" code is simply not sufficient or practical. So it seems to come down to the old problem - where user-friendliness and progress depends on the "good-old phone company" and is not open to competetive market pressure, the consumer gets the shaft. Reminds me of a *VERY* large computer company ... But I am hoping that the entry of ATT into THAT market might lead to some consumer-benefits, for a change. And - I am the first to recognize the comparative qualities of the US phone system - but that's really no excuse for it's existing short-comings or for not improving it.