The grandfather kings of nerdcore
In terms of popularity, nerdcore occupies a space somewhere between underground hip-hop and the end of the universe, according to rapper and educator Mega Ran. Nerdcore is a brand of hip-hop characterized by a focus on geeky things, which means its subject matter is as vast and varied as Tolkien’s Encircling Sea. It’s niche but limitless; visible but not known. It’s big enough to support the musical careers of artists like MC Lars, MC Frontalot, Beefy and MC Chris, yet it’s small enough that even the most fervent Star Wars fan may have never heard of it.
Even in an age where geek chic is hot and “nerd” is no longer a vicious insult, nerdcore remains underground — but its influence on popular culture is showing. More mainstream rappers like Childish Gambino, Danny Brown, Deltron 3030, RZA and Dr. Octagon regularly reference science fiction, astrophysics, video games and other traditionally geeky topics, at times while sampling the likes of Final Fantasy 7 and Pac-Man. Beyond the Billboard charts, Hamilton is a national phenomenon about American colonial history, and even Game of Thrones has its own mixtape.
“The nexus point of nerd culture and rap has definitely become more mainstream,” MC Lars says. “For me, there is something cool about meeting younger kids who are just getting into my music — the Vans Warped Tour has been super-helpful in that capacity. We are the grandfathers of the movement, but we’re all still here and we’re still making a living doing this.”
Mega Ran, 2013 (Credit: jeriaska/Flickr)
Nerdcore isn’t new. MC Frontalot accidentally coined the term in 2000 when he dropped the song “Nerdcore Hip-Hop.” He was a college DJ by trade, and the track was meant to poke fun at the way people labeled their music tastes with ever more specific terms.
“Oh, you’re still into Post-Shoegaze? That’s fine,” MC Frontalot imagines a late-’90s college student saying. “I’m way more interested in Speed Slowcore lately.”
It may have started as a joke, but the name stuck, and it’s served MC Frontalot well. He’s made a career out of performing and recording nerdcore albums, he’s played 25 consecutive PAX conventions and he even ended up as a judge on the TBS reality show King of the Nerds in 2013. A lot of this is thanks to “Nerdcore Hip-Hop.”
“As soon as I recorded that song, I realized why every band wants to have its own genre all to themselves,” he says. “It tricks journalists into thinking you’re some kind of visionary.”
Perhaps because the genre itself was labeled on a whim, nerdcore songs run the gamut in terms of topics. There are no rules dictating what makes a track “nerdcore,” so it essentially boils down to whatever the artist is passionate about at the moment. MC Lars has an entire album dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe, Beefy raps about massive conventions like Comic-Con and MC Frontalot is known for a song about first-world problems. Mega Ran (also known as Random) recently recorded a track about Pokémon Go that discusses the Black Lives Matter movement, terrorism and crime.
This is an important aspect of nerdcore: Its undefined, nebulous nature allows artists to rap about anything at all while still benefiting from an existing market with an excited audience. Passion is often miscategorized as “geeking out,” after all.
“Anytime that I can use my platform to make people aware of things they might not be familiar with, and I can do it in an artistic manner, that’s what I’m going to do,” Mega Ran says. “It’s great to have the kind of freedom we have to talk about whatever we want without having to fall into a format of genre or subject matter limitations.”
MC Lars, 2014 (Credit: Abby Gillardi/Flickr)
When MC Frontalot first uttered the word “nerdcore” in 2000, it described a genre obsessed with songs about Star Wars and role-playing games, MC Lars says. This was before the age of ubiquitous social media, when the nerdcore audience gathered in usenet forums and on sites like Rhyme Torrents.
MC Lars heard the term “nerdcore” for the first time in 2003, when he’d already been producing hip-hop for about 10 years. One of his first rap songs was an homage to Macbeth, while another divulged how he wanted to play Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones.
“I grew up reading Mad magazine and listening to Weird Al Yankovic, and that influenced my writing more than 2Pac or Snoop ever could have,” MC Lars says.
Today, most nerdcore songs could easily be top-10 pop hits. They’re energetic and catchy, packed with clever turns of phrase and references that anyone who’s been to a midnight Avengers premiere can understand. In many ways, geek culture is pop culture, and that extra attention has ushered new talent into the nerdcore industry.
“I feel like now there’s an increase in guys doing what many of us have been doing, which some look at as threatening, but I see it as amazing,” Mega Ran says. “If I can play a part in people being comfortable enough with themselves to talk about the things they love, using the vehicle of rap music, it’s a good thing.”
MC Frontalot also revels in the joy that new artists get out of the genre he named. Nerdcore songs may have existed before he coined the term, but the label gives new rappers a handy reference point when describing their new obsession to friends or online. Newcomers are walking on the path that MC Frontalot helped pave.
“The thing that excited and continues to excite me is when super-talented younger artists see something in the nerdcore designation that they identify with and use the term to describe their music,” he says. “When that started happening 10 years ago, it blew my mind. And it keeps happening even now. Sort of post-facto legitimizes the whole endeavor.”
Nerdcore may be more prominent than ever, but MC Frontalot, MC Lars and Mega Ran aren’t in a rush to make it mainstream. Nerdcore is a special pocket of passion and rhyme that doesn’t need to prove itself to anyone or any genre.
“For all of us in nerdcore, it is way better to be the superstars of a tiny niche than a random collection of uncool rappers whose sales compare unfavorably to Macklemore’s,” MC Frontalot says. “Part of me hopes we stay niche.”
How inmates tried to coordinate a nationwide prison strike
Today is symbolic for an oft-forgotten group of Americans: Prisoners. 45 years ago, those locked away in the Attica Correctional Facility in western New York state went from protesting for more rights to a full-blown riot put down by force. In recognition, the incarcerated across America are rallying to protest the injustice of prison labor, which could become the largest mass-strike in US prison history. But how did they coordinate so many people using only written letters and telephones as restricted by law? Answer: they got around it and connected with each other — and the outside world — over Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The main obstacle is obvious: Organizing protests from within is against every prison’s rules, as Wired reports. It’s also pretty difficult to sneak by any facility’s staff, since letters and phone calls can be read and reviewed. But communicating online is far more private, and try as they might to stop the flow, prisons can’t keep internet-connected cell phones from being smuggled in by visitors and guards. Despite policies preventing inmates at many facilities from having a social media presence or computer access entirely, some manage themselves or get their families to post for them.
This lets prisoners connect directly with folks, like members of the Free Alabama Movement are doing on Facebook and Twitter to rally support against prison labor exploitation, reports Wired. But that presence is also visible to prison staff, who can submit takedown requests to the social media titans. Sometimes, it’s the victims of crimes alerting correctional facilities of an inmate’s online activity. Whether prisoners’ pages are taken down is up to the social media companies, which, as private organizations, have the power to decide whether prisoners should be able to use their networks.
Source: Wired
Facebook’s trending algorithm promoted a 9/11 truther story
Facebook’s trending news algorithm has failed once again. Earlier today, Facebook users who clicked on the “9/11” trending topic on the social network were directed to a tabloid story by The Daily Star, which claimed that bombs destroy the World Trade Center towers. As The Washington Post reports, the story was quickly removed after they contacted Facebook.
This flub comes just a week after Facebook’s algorithm promoted a false story about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, which followed the company’s decision to stop its human editors from writing descriptions about trending stories. Instead, Facebook’s remaining editors just choose potential topics. That move followed controversy around potential bias from its human editors, which a Facebook investigation refuted.
“We’re aware a hoax article showed up there,” a Facebook spokesperson told the Washington Post, “and as a temporary step to resolving this we’ve removed the topic.”
It’s makes sense that Facebook’s human editors chose to highlight 9/11 as a trending topic, since there are plenty of stories popping up as we approach the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attack. But it’s surprising they didn’t pay extra attention to what, exactly, the algorithm surfaced for such a touchy subject. (Or perhaps it’s in their best interest to prove that the algorithm isn’t smart enough on its own.)
Via: The Washington Post
Customer service matters when it comes to ransomware
This week we’re finding out that Cerber is 2016’s biggest name in ransomware.
Cerber didn’t get to the top just by being good at infecting computers, locking up people’s files, and blackmailing its victims for Bitcoin. The plucky ransomware is on the fast track to fame and fortune thanks to a hard-won reputation for top-notch customer service that wows its victims at every turn. At least, that was the conclusion in security company F-Secure’s summer report, Evaluating the Customer Journey of Crypto-Ransomware.
Cerber is infecting people through infected Word documents and malvertising, among other attack vectors. Unwitting victims are downloading it via ads that appear in popup windows, so make sure your ad- and popup-blockers are up to date. In August, Cerber was launching eight new campaigns every day, and successfully infected 150,000 users worldwide in that month alone.
Sounds pretty lucrative, right? Well, if you think raking in the dough as a ransomware writer sounds like the life for you, “being a people person” probably isn’t the skill you plan to develop. But, if you’re going to succeed in the hectic business of ransomware, great customer service skills are a must to avoid lost revenue and disappointed victims.
F-Secure was so intrigued by this phenomenon, that it decided “to see which crypto-ransomware family offers the best (or, more appropriately, least worst) customer journey from start to finish.” To find out who “wowed” their victims and which crypto-blackmailers were just embarrasing customer service train-wrecks, the researchers set up their own secret shopper experiment.
Ransomware spreads like wildfire from offices to homes, usually arriving in email attachments (or over infected networks) to aggressively encrypt all your files (including drives, Dropbox files, and all locally connected, network-attached, or cloud-based storage) while an ominous onscreen timer demands payment within 72 hours.
Mess with the files or decline to pay and forget about ever opening them again.
This would be a golden ticket for ransomware gangs if everyone paid up — not everyone does. Security company Bitdefender found in its recent white paper “Ransomware, a Victim’s Perspective” that only 50% of its victims pay up. Plus, because the malicious software typically goes after people who aren’t tech-savvy, the extortioners need to establish communication and trust in order to collect payment in the end.
Image credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Enter ransomware’s bizarre legacy for customer support. Out of necessity, many different exploit kits (or flavors of ransomware) and the authors behind them have turned their focus to improving the customer experience.
In 2013, ransomware strain CryptoLocker became famous for both its ‘bastard and fiendish’ pervasiveness, and its superb, patient, and attentive customer support. The malware’s authors frequently appeared on forums to help their victims work through technical issues. They’d also help them out with things like troubleshooting MoneyPak transaction codes. A year later, a strain called OphionLocker was noted for identifying each new infected computer so that the extortionists could avoid ransoming the same victim twice.
F-Secure found this intersection of malicious criminal activity and helpful customer service so intriguing, they created “Christine” to evaluate ransomware user support and service quality, including things like ‘hand-holding’ and try-before-you-buy options.
Christine wasn’t a real person, but boy did she get owned by ransomware. “Christine Walters is married, in her 40’s, with a full time job and children,” the study said. “She’s not into tech and knows next to nothing about ransomware, Bitcoin, or security issues in general. She’s inquisitive though, and now that she’s encountered ransomware for the first time she wants to know more about it.”
Under the cover of F-Secure’s study, our sympathetic and extremely unlucky heroine Christine got her computers infected by five different ransomware groups. “We then attempted to contact, as Christine, the gangs behind each of the malware samples using their support channels, the report said. What’s more, “a non-technically oriented person carried out the actual interactions.”
Christine made a lot of interesting discoveries in her customer journey. In 100% of the ransomware predicaments she found herself in, the deadline to pay for file decryption could be extended. And the gangs were willing to negotiate the price: “Three out of four variants were willing to negotiate, averaging a 29 percent discount from the original ransom fee.”
In the end, the hands-down winner for outstanding customer experience was Cerber. The ransomware ranked high in every category. F-Secure rated it highly for professionalism, noting that its web pages were clean and organized.
According to Christine’s experience with Cerber, its convenient support form got quick responses to her queries — “always the same day and sometimes within minutes.” Direct engagement being key to every forward-facing product’s success, it’s no wonder Cerber is coming out on top.
Critiques included the design of its ransom screen which needs improvement, and they fell slightly short with Christine’s handholding needs. At least in comparison to the Jigsaw ransomware support agent, who told Christine at the end of their conversations that they were glad her files were safe and advised her to get a good antivirus.
Erka Koivunen, Cyber Security Advisor for F-Secure nailed it when she concluded, “The customer care that the criminals provide appears to be effective and something that many legal web shops and more traditional businesses could take lessons from.”
Facebook co-founder donates $20 million to elect Hillary Clinton
Mark Zuckerberg’s other half, Dustin Moskovitz, has pledged to donate $20 million to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign and other Democratic efforts this election year. Moskovitz, a co-creator of Facebook and founder of Asana, outlines his intentions in a Medium post that criticizes Republican candidate Donald Trump and praises Clinton.
“The Republican Party, and Donald Trump in particular, is running on a zero-sum vision, stressing a false contest between their constituency and the rest of the world,” Muskovitz says. “We believe their positions, especially on immigration, which purport to improve the lives of Americans, would in practice hurt citizens and noncitizens alike. In contrast, the Democratic Party, and Hillary Clinton in particular, is running on a vision of optimism, pragmatism, inclusiveness and mutual benefit.”
The $20 million will be divided among a handful of organizations, including the For our Future PAC and League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund, which will receive $5 million each.
Moskovitz acknowledges that some people will look unfavorably on such a large donation made to one political party and candidate. The conversation around campaign finance reform has been heated this election cycle; many voters and politicians are dissatisfied with existing rules that allow large donations to individual candidates’ campaigns.
“This decision was not easy, particularly because we have reservations about anyone using large amounts of money to influence elections,” Moskovitz says. “That said, we believe in trying to do as much good as we can, which in this case means using the tools available to us (as they are also available to the opposition).”
Moskovitz, 32, has been vocal about using his fortune to benefit the social good. His net worth is currently valued at $10.3 billion, according to Forbes.
Via: Politico
Source: Medium
Samsung plans formal Note 7 recall with the US government
While Samsung has already announced its own recall and replacement program for the Galaxy Note 7, following reports about the phone’s potentially explosive batteries, it hasn’t yet gone through the formal process with the US government. It looks like that’s about to change soon, as Recode reports that Samsung is finally working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission around an official recall. There’s no announcement just yet, but it should hopefully mean that Samsung is able to ensure a more thorough recall of the Note 7 than it can on its own.
For now, both Samsung and the CPSC are pushing Galaxy Note 7 customers to avoid using or charging their devices. According to Samsung, only 24 in a million devices are affected by the potential fire risk. But do you really want to play Russian roulette with a device that’s in your pocket or right by your face?
“CPSC and Samsung are working cooperatively to formally announce an official recall of the devices, as soon as possible,” the agency said in a statement to Recode. “CPSC is working quickly to determine if a replacement Galaxy Note 7 is an acceptable remedy for Samsung or their phone carriers to provide to consumers.”
Source: Recode
MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Vintage Messenger Bag From Whipping Post
For the next few weeks, MacRumors is running a special giveaway event, which will see us highlighting and giving away high-quality luxury bags from manufacturers like Pad & Quill, Intrepid Bag Co, Whipping Post, and Saddleback Leather Company. We’ve got all of these bags on hand so we can give clear details on construction, quality, utility, and more.
For today’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Whipping Post to give away one of the company’s all leather suede-lined Vintage Messenger Bags, designed to pay homage to antique postal bags. Compared to each of the bags in the giveaway, Whipping Post’s Vintage Messenger bag is the softest and the lightest, but still with enough structure to hold all of your gear.
Measuring in at 18.5 inches by 11.5 inches by 4 inches, it is large enough to hold a notebook as big as a 15-inch MacBook Pro, and it even has a dedicated MacBook or iPad section inside the bag. There’s a big magazine pocket at the back of the bag, a smaller front pocket, and an inner pocket divided into two parts.
It’s thin, which I liked, but it also expands outward once it’s filled with stuff, and due to its malleability and its ability to expand, the Vintage Messenger Bag holds a lot of stuff (but it never looks overly bulky). It fit my MacBook Pro, two iPads, several notebooks and loose papers, a water bottle, and a bunch of various accessories and sundries.
The inside laptop flap clasps with a leather strap, as does the front flap, keeping both securely shut. The straps are, however, designed in a way that makes the bag easy to open and get into quickly, something I appreciated. There’s a thin handle at the top so it can be held like a briefcase, and there’s also a padded shoulder strap that can be adjusted to several different sizes with a set of buckles.
The Vintage Messenger Bag comes in a nice chocolate red color, which is pristine out of the box, but I suspect it will wear nicely and gain a lot more character once it’s broken in. Whipping Post typically charges $295 for its Vintage Messenger Bag, but one MacRumors reader will get one for free.
To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize.
You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (September 9) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on September 16. The winner will be chosen randomly on September 16 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.
Tags: giveaway, Whipping Post
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Tim Cook Says Apple is ‘Very Committed’ to the Mac and to ‘Stay Tuned’
Apple CEO Tim Cook has responded to a MacRumors reader’s email about the lack of a long-awaited MacBook Pro refresh, stressing that he “loves the Mac” and that Apple is “very committed” to it. He told the customer, who wishes to remain anonymous, to “stay tuned,” suggesting that updates to the Mac lineup are on the horizon.
MacRumors cannot fully confirm the authenticity of the email, but it does appear to originate from Apple’s corporate servers based on full headers we saw. Apple executives occasionally respond to customer emails, but it is possible the response was handled by Apple’s executive relations or public relations teams.
An update to the Mac lineup at some point is inevitable, and the bigger focus is now on when that will happen. The latest word is that Apple will release new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models with USB-C ports as early as October, while updated iMac models with an option for new AMD graphics chips are also in the works.
That report reiterated rumors that the new MacBook Pro will be thinner and include an OLED-based touch bar along the top of the flatter keyboard, which will present functions that dynamically fit the current task or application, as well as integrate Touch ID to enable users to quickly log in using their fingerprint.
Our own Mac Buyer’s Guide shows that it has been 479 days since the MacBook Pro was last updated, while the MacBook Air has not been refreshed in 550 days. Similarly, the Mac mini has not been refreshed in 694 days, while the Mac Pro is five days shy of 1000 days since its last update. iMacs stand at 332 days.
Tag: Tim Cook
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Square Cash Enables Online Shopping Through Virtual Visa Debit Cards
In its 2.13 update yesterday, mobile payments app Square Cash introduced the “Cash Virtual Card” into its iOS app, letting users create a virtual Visa debit card that lets them spend their Square Cash anywhere that accepts Visa online (via Recode).
Square Cash users can check out at retailers like Amazon, for example, and simply enter the card number for their virtual card during the check out process. The company is also reportedly working on making the new virtual payments compatible with Apple Pay and Android Pay, “making it possible to use Square Cash funds to tap and pay in stores that accept mobile payments.”
The obvious question is why someone would choose to use a Square Cash account — either in a store or on a website — instead of their regular debit or credit card. A spokesperson cited push notifications triggered by purchases — something that some services like Apple Pay already employ — as well as easy-to-browse digital receipts as potential incentives.
The update brings Square Cash a little closer to PayPal in functionality, but users on Square Cash are relegated to spending money only within the app’s account and are unable to draw from funds in their back-up bank accounts. With PayPal, if users over-spend the funds in their account, the app will fall back into the attached bank account to make up for the difference.
Square Cash is also changing up how instant deposits work in an attempt to make more money from each transaction on the app. Now, users who receive a payment can withdraw the money to their bank if they’re willing to pay a one percent fee for the same-day withdrawal. If not, the money will be deposited in their bank on the next business day for free. The monetization of its withdrawal service is an attempt by the company to catch up to more popular mobile wallet apps.
Users can create their virtual Visa card within the Square Cash now, only needing to enter a billing address to associate with the card to get things started. The Square Cash app is available on the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tag: Square Cash
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What you need to know about U.S. carrier plans and subsidies
Can I still buy a smartphone with a carrier subsidy?
I forgot what it’s like to actually buy a smartphone. I’ve been living in a bubble because of my privileged position as a former smartphone reviewer and I missed out on the fact that carrier subsidies aren’t really a thing anymore.
Back in the day—that is to say, a mere two years ago—you could purchase the latest smartphone at a significant discount after signing on for another two years of service. But in the last year, U.S. carriers have effectively changed their policies so that their customers have to either finance or lease their smartphones, or just buy them outright.
Are there any major carriers still offering subsidies? The answer is, not really. But that doesn’t mean that purchasing your next smartphone has to be a daunting experience. Here’s what the four major U.S. carriers are offering in terms of upgrades.
Tip: Most of the major carriers have special offers throughout the year that could save you some cash on your next device. For instance, Verizon offers up to $300 trade-in value for your old smartphone when you upgrade or add a line on select devices. These deals change from time to time, but like buying a car, if you can wait to upgrade until the next promotion, it could afford you some major savings.
Verizon Wireless
At present, Verizon only offers two smartphone buying options: Financing the phone with monthly payments, or buying the phone outright. By default, Big Red will allow you to pay for your phone over the course of 24 months, or two years from your purchase date. For instance, if you wanted to buy the 32GB Samsung Galaxy S7, you’d be paying $28 a month until you reach the $672 retail price. Alternatively, you could also put some money down, like $200, and only pay $19.67 per month for 24 months. Unfortunately, you can’t pay extra towards the balance of the phone each month after the fact, though you can choose to pay it off entirely at any time if you have the funds.
Big Red will allow you to pay for your phone over the course of 24 months.
Long time customers have a little more luck. Verizon stopped offering subsidies to new customers late last summer, but if you were on contract at that time and you’re only now considering an upgrade, you can still buy your next smartphone at a discount until Verizon decides otherwise.
AT&T
Like Verizon, AT&T allows you to pay for your smartphone over time or in one lump sum. There are is an option if you’re aching to upgrade early on, however, and depending on your credit, you might even have the luxury of paying off your phone slowly, up to 30 months after initial purchase.
AT&T Next is a bit more flexible than Verizon’s offering.
AT&T’s financing plan is called AT&T Next, and it’s a bit more flexible than Verizon’s offerings. For example, if you’re looking to upgrade to the 32GB Galaxy S7 edge and you have a good credit score, you can choose to put nothing down and pay $36.50 a month for 30 months. You could also lower your monthly rate by adding on an optional down payment and then choose to pay off your device over 24, 18, or 12 months if you qualify.
AT&T also offers a Next Every Year program, which makes you eligible for a discount on a new phone with a trade-in, but only after your current device is halfway paid off (this takes roughly one year). And if you cancel your service in the middle of paying off the device, you’ll have to pay it in full before you can leave.
Sprint
If you’re a Sprint subscriber, you can choose to lease your phone, buy it outright, or pay for it in monthly installments.
Sprint’s leasing program works similarly to leasing a car. You choose almost any phone you want and then pay for it over the period of 24 months. At the end of the lease, you can choose to pay off the remaining balance on the device, trade it in for a new model, or continue paying month-to-month until you figure out what you want. There’s also a $5 monthly Early Upgrade option, though you’ll have to have paid toward your device for 12 consecutive months before you can upgrade to a new phone. And if you’re crazy for every new Samsung device, you can sign up for the Galaxy Forever leasing program.
Sprint’s leasing program is a bit problematic. You don’t actually own the device unless you choose the purchase option and should something major happen to the device in your care before it’s paid off, you’ll be liable for the Damaged Device Fee unless you’re enrolled in the Total Equipment Protection plan, which also costs a monthly fee.
Sprint’s leasing program is problematic in that you don’t actually own the device.
At the end of it all, Sprint’s leasing program doesn’t sound like the best deal. You’ll have to pile on program fees just to ensure you’re not paying up the wazoo at the end of the lease, and if you decide to keep the phone, you’ll actually be paying more than the current value of the device at the end of the leasing terms. The full terms of Sprint’s leasing program are here.
It’s also unclear if Sprint has done away with subsidies. On its cell phone upgrades page, Sprint says, “If you have completed a 2-year commitment, you can upgrade to another discounted device if you enter into a new 2-year Service Agreement.” This applies only to those customers that are paying at least $40 a month for their bill.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s Jump program costs $10 a month and includes device insurance. Once you’re signed up, you’ll pay for the device in monthly installments, and after it’s halfway paid off, you can trade it in for a new one.
T-Mobile will let you pay for your phone outright or in 24 month installments.
Like Verizon, T-Mobile will also let you pay for your phone outright, or in installments over 24 months, though you may have to fork over a down payment depending on your credit score. At the very least, that down payment goes towards the full price of the phone. You can also choose to pay extra each month so that your phone is paid off sooner, though you’ll have to file that separately from your monthly bill so that it’s registered in the system as a device payment.
Lastly, T-Mobile offers a leasing program called Jump! On Demand, which is great for smartphone enthusiasts who are keen on having the latest and greatest but don’t necessarily want to commit to shelling out all the cash at once. You’ll essentially be making monthly payments to use the phone, though you’ll never actually own it. The upside you can walk into any T-Mobile store and trade your months-old phone in for a new one, up to three times in a year. But it also means that you can’t get too attached to your daily driver.
