All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.
Read all 'cell phones' posts in Couric & Co.
December 17, 2008 8:07 PM
Katie Couric's Notebook: Goodbye, Landlines
We all know everyone has a cell phone these days, but you may be surprised just how fast the kitchen landline is going the way of the rotary dial.
New statistics show 18 percent of Americans use only cell phones. That's almost triple the number just three years ago.
Another 13 percent still have a landline, but rarely use it, meaning about a third of us get nearly all our calls on cell. Most cell phones aren't listed. That's making it tougher to call someone if you don't know the number. Since cell phone-only users tend to be younger, it presents challenges for pollsters who need to reach a broad range of people when conducting surveys.
Experts think the trend could grow even faster during the next few years. With the economy so tight, we're all looking to cut expenses, and if cutting the cord means more money for food and clothes, more of us will be hanging up landlines for good.
New statistics show 18 percent of Americans use only cell phones. That's almost triple the number just three years ago.
Another 13 percent still have a landline, but rarely use it, meaning about a third of us get nearly all our calls on cell. Most cell phones aren't listed. That's making it tougher to call someone if you don't know the number. Since cell phone-only users tend to be younger, it presents challenges for pollsters who need to reach a broad range of people when conducting surveys.
Experts think the trend could grow even faster during the next few years. With the economy so tight, we're all looking to cut expenses, and if cutting the cord means more money for food and clothes, more of us will be hanging up landlines for good.
November 25, 2008 6:13 PM
Katie Couric's Notebook: Text-Message Romance
As any parent of a teenager can tell you, text messaging is all the rage. in fact, in 2007, Americans OMGed and LOLed more often than they made phone calls. Our fingers are not only doing the walking, they are doing the talking.
And a new study by AT&T found those fingers are also doing the flirting and the romancing. Sixty-eight percent of the people surveyed said they have sent love notes. The most popular message was "thinking of you." Twenty-eight percent say they send them two or three times a day.
It's the thought that counts, and certainly it's better to say "I love you" with a text message than to not say it at all. Perhaps those days of saving all your love letters in a hope chest are as outdated as the rotary phone.
Let's just hope that if the romance goes south, the breakup comes face-to-face. IMHO, which means in my humble opinion, broken heart is bad enough without the Blackberry thumb.
Video: And a new study by AT&T found those fingers are also doing the flirting and the romancing. Sixty-eight percent of the people surveyed said they have sent love notes. The most popular message was "thinking of you." Twenty-eight percent say they send them two or three times a day.
It's the thought that counts, and certainly it's better to say "I love you" with a text message than to not say it at all. Perhaps those days of saving all your love letters in a hope chest are as outdated as the rotary phone.
Let's just hope that if the romance goes south, the breakup comes face-to-face. IMHO, which means in my humble opinion, broken heart is bad enough without the Blackberry thumb.
June 27, 2008 5:48 PM
Katie Couric's Notebook: Texting While Driving
On July 1, California becomes the 27th state, and the biggest, to ban cell phone use by drivers.
It's a good idea. An insurance research group says the risk of a serious crash is four times greater when a driver is on the phone. And drivers aren't just making calls. They're also sending text messages, which can be worse.
To watch my full Notebook, just click on the monitor.
It's a good idea. An insurance research group says the risk of a serious crash is four times greater when a driver is on the phone. And drivers aren't just making calls. They're also sending text messages, which can be worse.
To watch my full Notebook, just click on the monitor.
June 6, 2008 4:56 PM
Katie Couric's Notebook: The Cell Phone Debate
Cell phones are kind of like cigarettes. Once you're hooked they're hard to put down, and they are every bit as annoying in a crowded bar.
But do they ALSO cause cancer?
That's been a debate in the medical community for almost as long as mobile phones have been around.
Just click on the monitor to hear the rest of my Notebook.
But do they ALSO cause cancer?
That's been a debate in the medical community for almost as long as mobile phones have been around.
Just click on the monitor to hear the rest of my Notebook.
February 29, 2008 5:16 PM 
Sharyl Attkisson is an investigative correspondent for CBS News.
In four short years, the ringtone industry has emerged from nowhere and has become a billion-dollar market. And just as fast, scam artists found a way to tap into the line. That's what's behind a major settlement of a fraud investigation announced today by Florida attorney general Bill McCollum, and it will impact cell phone customers nationwide.
Here's how it works: customers are charged for ringtones, wallpaper, joke-of-the-day, you-name-it on their cell phone bills ... charges they never authorized and services they don't want. The charges aren't properly identified on the bill as to what they are or where they came from.
If a customer does study his bill closely enough to catch the bogus fee and call the phone company to inquire, too often he's told that he "must" have subscribed to the service, that the charges are monthly and will go on indefinitely, and there's really no way to stop it. This has happened to an estimated untold millions nationwide.
Rring…rrrring. Gotcha!
(iStockphoto)
In four short years, the ringtone industry has emerged from nowhere and has become a billion-dollar market. And just as fast, scam artists found a way to tap into the line. That's what's behind a major settlement of a fraud investigation announced today by Florida attorney general Bill McCollum, and it will impact cell phone customers nationwide.
Here's how it works: customers are charged for ringtones, wallpaper, joke-of-the-day, you-name-it on their cell phone bills ... charges they never authorized and services they don't want. The charges aren't properly identified on the bill as to what they are or where they came from.
If a customer does study his bill closely enough to catch the bogus fee and call the phone company to inquire, too often he's told that he "must" have subscribed to the service, that the charges are monthly and will go on indefinitely, and there's really no way to stop it. This has happened to an estimated untold millions nationwide.
February 22, 2008 7:07 PM 
Sharyl Attkisson is an investigative correspondent for CBS News. Her latest Follow the Money segment examined how replying to a text message or even browsing a Web site can unleash a flury of phone-bill charges for unordered and unwanted services. It's called "cramming."
I communicated with many unhappy customers while working on tonight's story on ringtone fraud. Of course only a few people's stories can actually fit into a report on the Evening News.
But I thought it might be interesting for you to read about the experiences of a few other folks. Judging from how many people have said it's happened to them (it even happened to me and my friends and family) we may be just beginning to hear how widespread this type of alleged scam may be.
What are your rights? If you can't get satisfaction from your service provider on what you believe are bogus charges, report it online to the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC told CBS News it's glad we're doing the story and helping let people know that this type of fraud is out there. Read on for some of the stories people told me.
Ringtones: How Viewers Got Stung
(CBS)
I communicated with many unhappy customers while working on tonight's story on ringtone fraud. Of course only a few people's stories can actually fit into a report on the Evening News.
But I thought it might be interesting for you to read about the experiences of a few other folks. Judging from how many people have said it's happened to them (it even happened to me and my friends and family) we may be just beginning to hear how widespread this type of alleged scam may be.
What are your rights? If you can't get satisfaction from your service provider on what you believe are bogus charges, report it online to the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC told CBS News it's glad we're doing the story and helping let people know that this type of fraud is out there. Read on for some of the stories people told me.
February 22, 2007 4:50 PM 
Technology never ceases to amaze me. In recent weeks, it's been striking to see that, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, a phone isn't a phone isn't a phone.
Images captured on video cell phones — and often shared on sites like YouTube — enable people around the world to increasingly share the same images, at the same time. It's changing everything from crime to even the way we report stories.
Of course, we learned how Saddam Hussein was executed after images of his hanging were caught on a security guard's cell phone. Cameras phones are now in places where cameras themselves never used to be. Citizen journalism is truly in action.
And just last week, when an 18-year old Salt Lake City teen shot dead five people, and himself, in a popular mall, the violence was caught on a cell phone. Even police not on the scene were able to piece together the horrific chain of events.
Cell phone images are also stopping crime. Last month, police in California released a pair of cell phone video clips they say depicted a caretaker slapping two mentally retarded men. The caretaker was then arrested, thanks to the images.
Just last week, teenagers on Long Island were caught when their prank was capture on cell phones. The teens' "fence plowing" videos — in which the "fence plower" barrels head-first through someone's fence — were posted on the Internet for the police to see.
Last year, a New York City woman helped police catch a serial subway flasher with her camera phone. She captured the flasher in action right on her phone. Actions like that have led to the proliferation of Web sites like HollabackNYC, which asks people to "catch that jerk with your video phone or do journalistic style feature on Street Harassment and we'll post it!"
Now everyone has the power that once belonged to just a small group of people. As long as that power isn't abused, it's good for democracy and bad for the perpetrators. Be careful, someone in your vicinity may be watching and you could be caught by a high-tech candid camera.
Katie: Smile, You're On The Phone!
(AP)
Images captured on video cell phones — and often shared on sites like YouTube — enable people around the world to increasingly share the same images, at the same time. It's changing everything from crime to even the way we report stories.
Of course, we learned how Saddam Hussein was executed after images of his hanging were caught on a security guard's cell phone. Cameras phones are now in places where cameras themselves never used to be. Citizen journalism is truly in action.
And just last week, when an 18-year old Salt Lake City teen shot dead five people, and himself, in a popular mall, the violence was caught on a cell phone. Even police not on the scene were able to piece together the horrific chain of events.
Cell phone images are also stopping crime. Last month, police in California released a pair of cell phone video clips they say depicted a caretaker slapping two mentally retarded men. The caretaker was then arrested, thanks to the images.
Just last week, teenagers on Long Island were caught when their prank was capture on cell phones. The teens' "fence plowing" videos — in which the "fence plower" barrels head-first through someone's fence — were posted on the Internet for the police to see.
Last year, a New York City woman helped police catch a serial subway flasher with her camera phone. She captured the flasher in action right on her phone. Actions like that have led to the proliferation of Web sites like HollabackNYC, which asks people to "catch that jerk with your video phone or do journalistic style feature on Street Harassment and we'll post it!"
Now everyone has the power that once belonged to just a small group of people. As long as that power isn't abused, it's good for democracy and bad for the perpetrators. Be careful, someone in your vicinity may be watching and you could be caught by a high-tech candid camera.
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
