Guess I don't understand how data is determined . Do company's have a limited source of data. How is data made, yeah I know a dumb question? Can they run out of data?Where is it kept? Is data a renewable resource? Or are just company's keeping us hostage over data.

Here, let me make this simple. This should explain it for you. Hope this helps.

Inside the cable companies are large rooms like this COMCAST regional distribution center google photo shows where regional video, high speed data and voice are piped out to customers all over the country. The companies wireless distribution is only as good as the number of towers it has dispersed over their regions.The more folks like us down streaming high volume of available data slows down the system big time. my take on it anyway...Roy Ken

Think of data as a file folder that a company kept long ago. Every interaction with you was referenced in that folder. Now... the existence of computers means that information is collected automatically because, once a programmer writes the program to collect it, it gets collected without further human interaction. Back in the old days, the only info kept was what was important enough to justify the human labor it took to collect and record it. That limitation no longer exists. Now, the only limitation on data is storage... and, generally, any piece of information that can be acquired is worth more than the cost of storage. When you think of hundreds or thousands of data points collected by one company or group of companies, you now know they can build a profile about you. Taken out to the extreme, they know enough about you to market to you in ways that you really haven't thought about. That sounds crazy, I know, but that's what happens when you carry the logical compilation of information out to the extreme. In theory, enough compiled data points may predict what you're going to do before you do it. And because the info is valuable (while the storage is relatively cheap), there is no reason for them not to.Note: A "data point" is a tidbit of info. Your address is a data point. The fact that you buy blue underwear is a data point. Every little tidbit... thousands of them... can then be shared among "partner" companies and compiled into a fairly exact picture.Edit added: And that's just the beginning. Add, on top of that, government with unlimited resources because they can, continuously, borrow and spend more than they have... as a layer on top of all of the above. At this point, one would have to be fairly (very?) sophisticated to go off-grid. I'm beginning to think it's no longer possible.

blangen wrote:Think of data as a file folder that a company kept long ago. Every interaction with you was referenced in that folder. Now... the existence of computers means that information is collected automatically because, once a programmer writes the program to collect it, it gets collected without further human interaction. Back in the old days, the only info kept was what was important enough to justify the human labor it took to collect and record it. That limitation no longer exists. Now, the only limitation on data is storage... and, generally, any piece of information that can be acquired is worth more than the cost of storage. When you think of hundreds or thousands of data points collected by one company or group of companies, you now know they can build a profile about you. Taken out to the extreme, they know enough about you to market to you in ways that you really haven't thought about. That sounds crazy, I know, but that's what happens when you carry the logical compilation of information out to the extreme. In theory, enough compiled data points may predict what you're going to do before you do it. And because the info is valuable (while the storage is relatively cheap), there is no reason for them not to.Note: A "data point" is a tidbit of info. Your address is a data point. The fact that you buy blue underwear is a data point. Every little tidbit... thousands of them... can then be shared among "partner" companies and compiled into a fairly exact picture.Pay with cash and don't use store "valued customer" cards.DW doesn't even know what I plan to do.

Data question | Good Sam Community

35 Replies

8_1_Van
Explorer
Oct 07, 2014
Microsoft now has one million servers – less than Google, but more than Amazon, says Ballmer

link

I guess Amazon also has over a million server today.
Dutch_12078
Explorer III
Oct 06, 2014
ChopperBill wrote:
Dutch_12078 wrote:
ChopperBill wrote:
Will add if you go over your service date everything starts at zero. Very unlikely with a 90 day service date. I have accumulated 1400 Meg's data since I went to Trac the first of Oct. have enough minutes until about the first of the year. For about $70. Not bad for about six months. Great plan unless you you use a ton of data and are mostly a phone and text user, which I am. That's why I want to donate my data to a movie person at the campsite. LOL

There are a few apps that let you use your data to send texts or call people via VOIP. If you use them while connected to a CG or other WiFi system, you won't use any of your minutes, texts, or data.

Thanks Dutch but I have those apps on my iPad for the just in case situation.

Ok, just suggesting ways you could use your data transfer allowance, since there's no practical way to pass it along to someone else.
FlatBroke
Explorer II
Oct 06, 2014
Dutch_12078 wrote:
ChopperBill wrote:
Will add if you go over your service date everything starts at zero. Very unlikely with a 90 day service date. I have accumulated 1400 Meg's data since I went to Trac the first of Oct. have enough minutes until about the first of the year. For about $70. Not bad for about six months. Great plan unless you you use a ton of data and are mostly a phone and text user, which I am. That's why I want to donate my data to a movie person at the campsite. LOL

There are a few apps that let you use your data to send texts or call people via VOIP. If you use them while connected to a CG or other WiFi system, you won't use any of your minutes, texts, or data.

Thanks Dutch but I have those apps on my iPad for the just in case situation.
Dutch_12078
Explorer III
Oct 06, 2014
ChopperBill wrote:
Will add if you go over your service date everything starts at zero. Very unlikely with a 90 day service date. I have accumulated 1400 Meg's data since I went to Trac the first of Oct. have enough minutes until about the first of the year. For about $70. Not bad for about six months. Great plan unless you you use a ton of data and are mostly a phone and text user, which I am. That's why I want to donate my data to a movie person at the campsite. LOL

There are a few apps that let you use your data to send texts or call people via VOIP. If you use them while connected to a CG or other WiFi system, you won't use any of your minutes, texts, or data.
FlatBroke
Explorer II
Oct 06, 2014
Will add if you go over your service date everything starts at zero. Very unlikely with a 90 day service date. I have accumulated 1400 Meg's data since I went to Trac the first of June. have enough minutes until about the first of the year. For about $70. Not bad for about six months. Great plan unless you you use a ton of data and are mostly a phone and text user, which I am. That's why I want to donate my data to a movie person at the campsite. LOL

Edit: I would have bought just a dumb talk and text phone, however, the are only double minutes. A no brainer to go to smart phone even for this dummy.
Dutch_12078
Explorer III
Oct 05, 2014
MrWizard wrote:
minutes roll over
is tracfone data counted as MB or in minutes of use ?

are you telling me that "IF" you have 500MB of unused data, it rolls over to your next cycle or "top up"

Regular Tracfone phones and "feature" phones count data as so many bytes per minute. The exact ratio varies a bit from model to model. Tracfone's Android smart phones use a different setup that separates voice minutes, texts, and data into separate "buckets". If you buy a 60 minute 60 day card for instance, and since all Tracfone smartphones are "triple minute" models, you get 180 voice minutes, 180 text messages, and 180mb, with a 60 day expiration date. Everything also gets added to any amounts and expiration date already on your phone. Tracfone also sells a separate "data only" card that only adds to your data "bucket", but does not extend your service expiration date. All minutes/texts/data on all Tracfones roll over when you add another time card, and the expiration is extended the amount on the card. There is no "monthly" rollover as such, it's a continuous rollover as you add more time.

On edit: to be clearer, the "data only" card is only for the smartphones.
MrWizard
Moderator
Oct 05, 2014
minutes roll over
is tracfone data counted as MB or in minutes of use ?

are you telling me that "IF" you have 500MB of unused data, it rolls over to your next cycle or "top up"

ChopperBill wrote:
MrWizard wrote:
funny OP

data "traffic" on your cell device is just that
traffic..stuff sent back and forth
your data limit,,, is the amount of allowed traffic you have contracted for
it is the max you may "transact" without extra fee
it can not be saved up to use in another month..i know more to pity
it does not ROLL OVER ..like some cell phone minutes do

Oops! Tracfone minutes, text and data rolls over.
FlatBroke
Explorer II
Oct 05, 2014
Dutch_12078 wrote:
Think of your data allowance as the prepaid money in a toll road account like E-ZPass. The amount in your data account will let you move a specific amount of digital information between various points until the amount moved reaches the account limit, just as the E-ZPass account lets you drive to various points on the toll roads until your funds are used up. Unlike Tracfone's data plan, most other data plans also have an expiration time, but that's a different issue. Tracfone of course, will also expire your data balance (and mins & texts) if your phone is not kept active.

If your phone is not kept active none of it really matters anyway. Kinda like not paying your ISP. You got nothing. My expiration date is already until next March because your expiration date extends past the last expiration date. What started out 90 days on mine is now 180 days. If you run out of service date and have lots of minutes you can always buy the cheapest card and get another 90 days. I'll probably never catch up to the end service date.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Oct 05, 2014
Data is either information, of which there is an endless supply, or an Android character on Star Trek:TNG

Your question likely has to do with DATA FLOW. The movement of data (information) from one place to another.

Think of data like water.. If some idiot sets his rig on fire so the fire Dept hooks up a 2" line to flood it with, The park's water pumps may not be able to suck it out of the ground fast enough for you to do the dishes.

Likewise some idiot streaming NETFLIX, .. Well that's a 2" in data pipe, and you only have so much Data flowing into the supply tank.. So he's sucking all the not data (of which there is an endless supply) But the bandwidth (The flow).
Dutch_12078
Explorer III
Oct 05, 2014
Think of your data allowance as the prepaid money in a toll road account like E-ZPass. The amount in your data account will let you move a specific amount of digital information between various points until the amount moved reaches the account limit, just as the E-ZPass account lets you drive to various points on the toll roads until your funds are used up. Unlike Tracfone's data plan, most other data plans also have an expiration time, but that's a different issue. Tracfone of course, will also expire your data balance (and mins & texts) if your phone is not kept active.

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Data question

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