One little word in Michael Geist’s column in the Toronto Star today made me decide to write this post.
What is that word?
The word “usage” in the following sentence is just plain wrong.
Canada ranks toward the very bottom among developed countries for cellphone usage as the lack of competition leaves Canadians with some of the highest prices for wireless services in the world.
Actually, Canadian cell phone usage is among the highest in the world, an inconvenient fact that doesn’t fit the thesis set out in the article.
Maybe a copy editor didn’t like the word “penetration” and decided to change the word to “usage” without checking if it changed the context
I have no trouble with people wanting lower prices for their wireless service – I have written many times before about how much I like free. I might even agree with Professor Geist that users should have the right to remove software and technical locks on handsets as long as they recognize that they are voiding their warranty and don’t start complaining to tech support about problems.
Let’s try to get the facts right so that we can engage in a real dialog.
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