Sci-Tech

Is T-Mobile still the uncarrier we knew and loved, or just another carrier?

Published

3 days ago

June 29, 2024

Andrew Grush

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

In 2012, the wireless industry was in a less-than-ideal state. AT&T and Verizon dominated the market, despite a reputation for price gouging. Meanwhile, Sprint and T-Mobile lagged behind in third and fourth place, respectively. In an effort to change its trajectory, T-Mobile hired John Legere as CEO. Legere wasn’t your typical corporate suit. He wore jeans and T-shirts, and cursed like a sailor. He was also outspoken about the poor policies and practices of the larger wireless carriers, and actually made a ton of big changes to the company through the “Uncarrier” marketing initiative.

This campaign aimed to disrupt traditional industry practices, such as two-year contracts, hidden fees, and sudden price increases. These transformations occurred against the backdrop of a planned merger with Sprint, which was finalized in 2020 after extensive negotiations. Fast forward to today, and the new T-Mobile now largely resembles the very companies Legere once vocally opposed.

Is T-mobile still the uncarrier you knew and loved?

64 votes

T-Mobile is starting to look a little like Verizon 2.0

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

There were many things T-Mobile criticized its competitors for, but pricing and clarity were chief among Legere’s concerns. In much softer words than he actually used, Legere once essentially accused Verizon and AT&T of being crooks who were taking us for every last cent. That’s just a bit ironic when you consider T-Mobile’s moves over the last few years. While the pandemic naturally drove up pricing, which is more forgivable, T-Mobile’s treatment of legacy customers is not.

First, T-Mobile attempted to automatically shift its legacy customers to newer plans unless the customer specifically contacted them to opt out. When this didn’t work, it ultimately ended up raising legacy pricing anyway, increasing prices by $5 per month per line for voice plans, and $2 per month per line for connected devices. It was also a slap in the face for customers who thought T-Mobile’s earlier Price Lock policies protected them.

T-Mobile used to offer some of the best phone deals, but these days, many of its top free phone offers are typically aimed exclusively at Go5G Plus and Next subscribers. Similarly, T-Mobile Tuesdays used to feature truly great exclusive discounts and promotions for events and much more. This experience has largely devolved into a very limited coupon book app, and many fear this will only worsen with the new T-Life direction.

Those are far from the only changes T-Mobile has made recently that go against the spirit of its Uncarrier movement. In April we learned T-Mobile could be profiling customers and collecting personal data to better predict user behavior. While this is an opt-out feature, I am willing to bet Legere’s T-Mobile would have never even tried something like this.

T-Mobile’s recent price increases and unclear customer changes are exactly the sort of things Legere once criticized Verizon and AT&T for.

Continuing its long line of moves that certainly aren’t customer-first in nature, T-Mobile recently clarified that its pricing could continue to increase, even for Price Lock customers. It also clarified that despite still using the name, T-Mobile customers with a plan from January 17, 2024 are actually on Price Lock 2.0. This newer version will refund you if you cancel due to price increases, but there’s really no promise it won’t continue to jack up prices.

Still not convinced this isn’t the same T-Mobile we all once gushed about? A new bill credits policy might just be enough to put you over the edge. The new policy means you’ll no longer receive bill credits for a free device if you decide to pay off the installment plan early. In other words, if you buy off your plan early, you lose out on your free phone deal.

T-Mobile is likely doing this to prevent customers from paying off a device early and then turning around and selling it for a high price. Before, you could sell the device and remove the installment plan while still receiving any free credits T-Mobile owed you.

All of this shows a carrier that is clearly not concerned with price increases or moves that are seen as less friendly by its existing customer base. This is exactly what Verizon and AT&T have been accused of doing. What makes T-Mobile feel even more like Verizon is that it seems to have set its sights on being the biggest and most powerful carrier.

It’s important to remember the Uncarrier phase was marketing first and foremost

I’ve noticed numerous online comments portraying John Legere as a hero, while Mike Sievert is blamed for T-Mobile’s recent shifts. However, it’s essential to recognize that the Uncarrier movement was primarily a marketing strategy. Legere was hired to revitalize the company, which he effectively did by adopting a relatable image, aggressively cutting costs, and disrupting the industry. But he didn’t do it because he was your friend. These were calculated business decisions.

Legere did his job well, and I respect him for that. However, I also understand how business works. T-Mobile knew that the changes under Legere’s leadership were only a temporary phase. After being promoted to COO, Mike Sievert and John Legere likely developed their strategy extensively. Phase 1 was focused on winning new customers and improving the network to compete with the major carriers. Phase 2 involved tightening the screws to generate real profits and secure T-Mobile’s position as one of the Big Three.

Legere was hired for a job and did it very well. So was Sievert: to make a profit at any cost.

Whether we like it or not, Mike Sievert was also hired for a specific purpose: to take this revitalized company and ensure it remains profitable both now and in the future. He has become the villain by raising prices and ensuring profitability even at the cost of customer satisfaction. It’s a less appealing role, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t doing his job. It’s a delicate balance — maintaining profitability while mitigating potential subscriber losses. T-Mobile likely anticipated some would leave once it was clear that the old Uncarrier days were over, but they planned ahead as best they could by acquiring the most prominent T-Mobile-based carriers.

Our own polls suggest that many of our tech-savvy readers are seriously considering switching to another carrier or even a prepaid service. Those who leave will likely seek coverage at least as good as what they had. If they were satisfied with the Uncarrier’s coverage, switching to Mint or another T-Mobile MVNO is an easy move. For every customer that switches away, a significant portion will still indirectly contribute to T-Mobile’s revenue. T-Mobile also anticipates that major customer losses are less likely among the elderly, large families, or those who are less tech-savvy and hesitant to switch.

Is T-Mobile actually any worse than the other members of the big three?

Phones showing Verizon, AT&T, and T Mobile logos stock photo (2)

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

The big question is whether T-Mobile is any worse than the other members of the big three, and to answer that, I’d say no. The new T-Mobile actually holds a few strong advantages over the competition. While AT&T and Verizon spread device payments over three whole years, T-Mobile still defaults to 24 months. T-Mobile also offers slightly more competitive pricing, especially for larger families. It also has an increasingly strong and reliable network — customer service and pricing aside. The main takeaway is that it’s no longer the “uncarrier” we once knew; it’s now more just “another member of the big three,” for better or worse.

For many, T-Mobile might still be the best of the big three. However, for most, I’d suggest moving to one of the many excellent prepaid services, which have evolved considerably over the years. Some prepaid carriers, like Google Fi Wireless, offer the same high-quality data, device payment plans, and other features typically associated with postpaid services.

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Sci-Tech

My Doctor Misdiagnosed My Diabetes — and I’m Not Alone. What You Need to Know

Published

9 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Justin Eastzer

For the longest time, type 1 diabetes was known as a childhood disease. Even until recently, it was still called “juvenile diabetes.” I’m here to tell you that just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you’ve escaped the wrath of this illness.

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I know this because it happened to me. At the age of 30, I was misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes for over six months. It wasn’t until I started sharing my diagnosis on TikTok that I discovered the truth and that this could happen to someone my age.

Roughly 60% of diagnoses today occur in adults who are 20 years of age or older. This form of type 1 diabetes is called Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adults. On top of that, 90% of those diagnosed with type 1 have no family history.

Rates for people living with diabetes are expected to more than double to 1.3 billion by 2050. This will impact both people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Spreading awareness about symptoms and early screening for type 1 diabetes will help people get the correct diagnosis and treatment they need sooner.

lancet-type-2-diabetes-projection-2050 — Research published in The Lancet projects a steady increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in coming years.

The Lancet

There is a lack of awareness about diabetes, even within the medical community. Because of this, many people go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes for months or even years. Here’s what you need to know.

The difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas no longer produces insulin, the hormone that regulates blood glucose, because the immune system attacks itself. Meanwhile, type 2 diabetes occurs due to insulin resistance, often due to lifestyle factors, and tends to be hereditary. As many as 11% of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes might actually have LADA. There are a couple things we can all do to prevent others from going undiagnosed and feeling ill for as long as I did.

The first is to know the signs of type 1 diabetes. The tell-tale symptoms are excessive thirst and urination, extreme feeling of fatigue, blurred vision and weight loss. When I was diagnosed, I was experiencing all of these symptoms and had lost over 20 pounds. After months of misdiagnosis, I saw an endocrinologist who ordered blood tests, and within weeks, I had the correct type 1 diagnosis.

Had my glucose levels gone unchecked for longer, I could have gone into diabetic ketoacidosis or DKA, which can be deadly. Up to 30% of those diagnosed in the US are discovered at this stage.

Another way we can prevent loss of life or sickness is with early screening for indicators of type 1 diabetes. Two blood tests are used to aid in diagnosis: A c-peptide test, which measures how much insulin a person is making themselves, and an islet autoantibody test, which screens for markers of the autoimmune process associated with type 1 diabetes. With these results, people can prepare and seek out treatment to offset the disease and/or treat it.

New legislation could help

Recent legislation aims to bring early screening for type 1 diabetes to the forefront of preventative care.

Last month, a bipartisan bill called the Strengthening Collective Resources for Encouraging Education Needed for Type 1 Diabetes Act was introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a national campaign to increase awareness and knowledge of type 1 detection, screening and management, and will allocate $5 million to the CDC to carry it out.

On my end, I will continue to share my story through articles like this one, videos on social media and interviews on my podcast, Diabetech. My hope is that no one will experience the long stretch of illness I experienced before getting the correct diagnosis and treatment needed.

Diabetes is a complex and complicated disease to manage. Devices like insulin pumps, smart insulin pens and continuous glucose monitors make living with the disease easier to manage, but they come with a steep learning curve.

I’m fortunate to be able to interview experts in the field on my podcast who help me and my audience stay informed on the latest tools and technology. I encourage anyone living with this disease to connect with me on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok to feel less alone and more in charge of your personal health.

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Sci-Tech

Midjourney is creating Donald Trump pictures when asked for images of ‘the president of the United States’

Published

11 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Pranav Dixit

Midjourney, a popular AI-powered image generator, is creating images of Donald Trump and Joe Biden despite saying that it would block users from doing so ahead of the upcoming US presidential election.

When Engadget prompted the service to create an image of “the president of the United States,” Midjourney generated four images in various styles of former president Donald Trump.

Midjourney created an image of Trump despite saying it wouldn't. — Midjourney

When asked to create an image of “the next president of the United States,” the tool generated four images of Trump as well.

Midjourney generated Donald Trump images despite saying it wouldn't. — Midjourney

When Engadget prompted Midjourney to create an image of “the current president of the United States,” the service generated three images of Trump and one image of former president Barack Obama.

Midjourney also created an image of former President Obama — Midjourney

The only time Midjourney refused to create an image of Trump or Biden was when it was asked to do so explicitly. “The Midjourney community voted to prevent using ‘Donald Trump’ and ‘Joe Biden’ during election season,” the service said in that instance. Other users on X were able to get Midjourney to generate Trump’s images too.

The tests show that Midjourney’s guardrails to prevent users from generating images of Trump and Biden ahead of the upcoming US presidential election aren’t enough — in fact, it’s really easy for people to get around them. Other chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini and Meta AI did not create images of Trump or Biden despite multiple prompts.

Midjourney did not respond to a request for comment from Engadget.

Midjourney was one the first AI-powered image generators to explicitly ban users from generating images of Trump and Biden. “I know it’s fun to make Trump pictures — I make Trump pictures,” the company’s CEO, David Holz, told users in a chat session on Discord, earlier this year. “However, probably better to just not — better to pull out a little bit during this election. We’ll see.” A month later, Holz reportedly told users that it was time to “put some foots down on election-related stuff for a bit” and admitted that “this moderation stuff is kind of hard.” The company’s existing content rules prohibit the creation of “misleading public figures” and “events portrayals” with the “potential to mislead.”

Last year, Midjourney was used to create a fake image of Pope Benedict wearing a puffy white Balenciaga jacket that went viral. It was also used to create fake images of Trump being arrested ahead of his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court last year for his involvement in a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Shortly afterwards, the company halted free trials of the service and, instead, required people to pay at least $10 a month to use it.

Last month, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit organization that aims to stop the spread of misinformation and hate speech online, found that Midjourney’s guardrails against generating misleading images of popular politicians including Trump and Biden failed 40% of its tests. The CCDH was able to use Midjourney to create an image of president Biden being arrested and Trump appearing next to a body double. The CCDH was also able to bypass Midjourney’s guardrails by using descriptions of each candidate’s physical appearance rather than their names to generate misleading images.

“Midjourney is far too easy to manipulate in practice – in some cases it’s completely evaded just by adding punctuation to slip through the net,” wrote CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed in a statement at the time. “Bad actors who want to subvert elections and sow division, confusion and chaos will have a field day, to the detriment of everyone who relies on healthy, functioning democracies.

Earlier this year, a coalition of 20 tech companies including OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, Adobe and X signed an agreement to help prevent deepfakes in elections taking place in 2024 around the world by preventing their services from generating images and other media that would influence voters. Midjourney was absent from that list.

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Sci-Tech

July’s Lego Releases Are All Abuzz

Published

12 hours ago

July 1, 2024

James Whitbrook

After the Eye of Sauron heralded a busy start to the summer for Lego fans, you’re getting a bit of a break in July—with just six major releases bidding for your time and attention to beat the heat with large amounts of plastic bricks. And one of those is a book! But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few things keeping an eye out for.

Lego’s New UCS TIE Interceptor Was Worth the 24 Year Wait

The new transforming Bumblebee—Lego’s second Transformers set after Optimus Prime a few years ago—is definitely the highlight of the month, but we’ve got a few cool Disney sets, a very cool car, and an even cooler book celebrating 25 years of Lego Star Wars. Check out what’s coming for Lego releases in July below!

Lego Icons Transformers Bumblebee

Image for article titled July's Lego Releases Are All Abuzz — Image: Lego

Designed to be in scale with 2022’s fully transformable Optimus Prime, Bumblebee is ready to roll out with the Autobot leader as he transforms into both his robot mode and his classic, VW Beetle-inspired vehicle form. ($90, available here)

Lego Star Wars: The Force of Creativity

We’ve got to wait another month for more Lego Star Wars sets, but Lego’s keeping the galaxy far, far away and its celebrations of 25 years of brick-based Star Wars in our minds with this lavish 300+ page look back at the legacy of the Lego Star Wars line. Featuring interviews from Lego and Lucasfilm employees alike, it’s a sumptuous look back at one of the most important toy lines in modern history. (Launches July 20 – $150, available to pre-order here)

Lego Icons Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole

Bumbebee’s not the only fancy car releasing this month… sort of. The other big set of July is Icons’ latest roadster, a recreation of the iconic ‘80s Lamborghini sports car. ( $180, available here)

Lego Brickheadz Iron Man Mk 5

Marvel’s solitary July representation comes in the form of the latest Iron Man suit in its chibi-figurine Brickheadz line. This time it’s the Mk 5, aka the “Suitcase Suit” Tony uses in Iron Man 2 when Whiplash attacks him during the Monaco Grand Prix. ($10, available here)

Lego Disney Princess Sets for July 2024

Rounding out the July releases are a trio of Disney Princess sets—one suitably cool Frozen set in the form of the latest version of Elsa’s Ice Palace, and two Little Mermaid-themed sets, inspired by the live-action remake of the animated classic.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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