"Doug Winterburn" wrote:


Being total cheapskates, my wife and I have TracFone smart phones.
Cost us $100 for a year with 1350 minutes talk + 1350 texts + 1.3GB
data. Plenty for us.

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Once I determined that I didn't need an electronic nurse maid
(AKA: Cell Phone), my communication needs became straight
forward.

When I started looking at cell phones (1990), they were very
expensive, bulky, required a bulky equipment installation
in the vehicle including an antenna and had many dead spots
just when you needed your cell most.

Finally they got rid of the bulky equipment in the vehicle, but
it was still a very expensive system and usage rates were high.

Prices for hardware kept dropping, coverage kept improving,
but my needs just never got to the point I could justify the
hardware and usage costs.

My customers could always get a call back if they left a message
on my voice mail and that was drove my whole thought process.

If I didn't lose orders, there was no need to solve a problem
that didn't exist.

Local and Long Distance is covered by Magic Jack for $20/year.

High Speed ISP service is another $50/month.

A "Burn" phone makes some sense these days if you are
traveling.

Air travel isn't what it once was.

If you are a woman traveling by herself these days, then
a cell phone becomes a security tool in addition to a
communication device.

Different ball game.

Lew