Paging stocks have been taking a beating lately as ratings agencies and some analysts worry that plain old paging won’t be able to compete in the sophisticated two-way messaging and personal communications services market that beckons the mass consumer.
Earlier this month, Moody’s downgraded Metrocall Inc.’s debt and late last week, the ratings agency assigned the same fate to Mtel.
Listen to New Mother Martha here: Plain old paging isn’t going anywhere. It’s handy. It’s cheap. It’s simple and it’s extremely portable.
Since our daughter was born, my husband and I have managed a couple dates without her. We went to dinner downtown for his birthday and left the baby with a trusted friend. We took the pager and the cell phone. (Page us if the baby cries or you need anything…)
Although we had a lovely time at the restaurant, the phone stayed in the car.
(Here, carry this…
It won’t fit in my purse. You carry it…
I have too much stuff in my jacket already. She’ll page us if anything’s wrong. The restaurant will have a phone…
O.K. I’ll leave it on the seat…
Put it in the glove box. You can’t let anyone see it…
No one’s going to break into the car to steal a phone…
Put it in the glove box. You never know…)
Our next outing was to a Denver Bronco’s football game. This time we left the baby in the care of our niece. And this time, the phone made it into the stadium, albeit in our Bronco bag.
The Bronco bag-which holds a variety of paraphernalia including binoculars, peanuts, rain gear, etc.-is shoved beneath our stadium seats, where it never fails to get soaked by someone’s rebel beverage a few rows up.
(Do you think we should put the phone in a freezer bag in case someone spills…)
Don’t get me wrong, I love my phone. It’s wonderful, but it requires some attention.
My husband’s pager, however, just idles around until its needed.
Granted, a Motorola StarTac can do the same thing. But a StarTac costs a couple of bucks-and for that reason alone, it demands to be paid attention to. (And then there’s the battery life issue. Nothing can beat a AA battery.)
Plain old paging is not going anywhere. In one’s personal life, a device’s value is first determined by what function it performs. Simplicity runs a close second. Plain old paging offers both.
