"The scenario is this: A poor student goes off to a college far from home. His parents wonder whether he will be able to manage. They know they cannot help worrying. So they ask him to phone home every Sunday at four to tell them he is well. The student complains that he has almost no money and that spending all those coins calling home will be an expensive business. So he would rather not. But they agree on a solution: He will phone on Sundays at four only if he is having problems. If he does not phone, it is because everything is going well. So he rarely calls. But he sticks to his side of the deal.
"He thus transfers a message to his parents every Sunday without having to spend a cent — assuming, that is, the phone system is working. You can transmit a message without spending money and without any physical representation at all. Assuming that there is a connection.
"[...] So there are stacks of messages in a phone that does not ring. As long as you have paid your bill."
Tor Nørretranders
The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size
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