Take Back the Beep

I've always thought this, but never cared enough to type anything up about the extra annoying blurbs you have to sit through when leaving messages for people on their cell phones. The "leaving numeric page or press 1 for more options" spheil. Well, David Pogue spells out what's happening, how to disable them (if possible), and details why they won't go away:

In 2007, I spoke at an international cellular conference in Italy. The big buzzword was ARPU–Average Revenue Per User. The seminars all had titles like, “Maximizing ARPU In a Digital Age.” And yes, several attendees (cell executives) admitted to me, point-blank, that the voicemail instructions exist primarily to make you use up airtime, thereby maximizing ARPU.
Right now, the carriers continue to enjoy their billion-dollar scam only because we’re not organized enough to do anything about it. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

It's like the absurd ATM fees that people pay in order to get access to THEIR money. So insane.