Take Back the Beep

You know when you call someone's mobile number, and you get their voicemail message, but then it's followed by a long and ridiculous recording telling you what to do when the beep comes, eventually, when the voice stops telling you about options, and numeric paging which no one ever does anymore, and what she had for lunch, and THEN the beep finally comes, but by then you've already arrived at the friend's place you were calling to say you were running late and just leaving the house?

Yeah, that additional 15/30 second recording telling you to leave a message at the tone because it's 2009 and you're using a mobile phone and so it's unlikely you've never encountered a freaking answering machine before and and are confused that this might be a real person talking to you and not a recording—the mobile carriers require it to add to the duration of the call so they can bilk more money out of you (in industry terms "ARPU–Average Revenue Per User").

Read the David Pogue's exposé/rant in the New York Times. His call to action: Take Back the Beep!

Related: Skip Annoyingly Long Voicemail Instructions For Every Cellphone Company