[Vision2020] Cell Phones

[Donovan Arnold]

Sandra,

I hate cell phones too. In fact the only thing I hate worse than the Cell 
Phone is Verizon. That is why I deal with the Cell Phone. It only costs me 
about $20 a month for a phone. True, I don't give out my number, and the 
phone book doesn't list my correct number, but I control who calls me, and 
who doesn't. So I only pay about $20 a month.

I use a portable, cheap cell phone, and buy my minutes in advance so I don't 
get billed for minutes I don't use, and I control how much I can spend. The 
reception is pretty good, and I don't need a phone line anymore, and thus, 
can get rid of Verizon, whom I despise to their rotten core.

I know of two places you can get cell phones without having to register them 
in your name, and have no contracts in Moscow. One is Wal-Mart, the other is 
Safeway. I am sure there are other places if you look around, Radio Shack, 
Hastings, etc.

The phones you buy range in cost anywhere from $50-$200, depending on the 
quality and gizmos of the phone that you want. The cost of the minutes 
ranges anywhere from about 10 cents to about 40 cents, depending on the 
number of minutes you buy.

If I were to go back in time, I would have bought my phone from the company 
"Virgin" instead of the company I have "Tracfone".

The down side is that you have to go through a few hoops to get the phone 
hooked up, and it takes about 1-4 days for them to turn the phone on. My 
company has lousy customer service. The last major downfall is that your 
minutes expire after about 90 days. So you all those used minutes is the 
time to call long distance family and friends to burn them up.

But it is much better than having to pay the phone company, cheaper, more 
convenient, and you control who has your number, not to mention all the 
other bonuses to not having a 2 foot cord on your communications. And your 
daughter is correct, you are the last person in the United States to not 
have a cell phone, even my 84 year old grandma has one :P.

Hope this helps.

Donovan J Arnold


>From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at adelphia.net>
>To: <Vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] Cell Phones
>Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 07:48:10 -0700
>
>Visionaries:
>
>In some ways, I'm a techno-geek, but not in other ways.  Perhaps I'm the 
>last
>person in America (at least, according to my daughter), but I have resisted 
>the
>cell phone revolution to the core of my being.  While I could understand 
>how one
>might come in handy a few times a year, and I've always seen the benefit of
>having one for emergency use, I was unwilling to pay a monthly charge for
>something I'd use so little.  Too, I've known people who had cell phones 
>going
>way back to the early days when having one didn't necessarily mean being 
>able to
>make a connection due to geographical challenges.
>
>However, I've been told that reception is better and now there are pre-paid
>calling cards so someone like me willing to purchase the cell phone isn't
>shelling out a good chunk of change monthly for something that will be used
>*very little*.
>
>Can anyone shed more light on this for me?
>
>
>TIA,
>Saundra Lund
>Moscow, ID
>
>The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
>nothing.
>-Edmund Burke
>
>
>
>
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