Cell Phone Economics

For the record, I don't like cell phones. They are distracting, annoying, and intrusive. I am not stretching the truth when I tell you that they have killed people. But the Moonbats seem to like them- they are in vogue like pot, booze, and central planning- so it doesn't appear that cell phones are going to be declared illegal and regulated any time soon. 

Having said all of that- I cannot live without a cell phone.

So yesterday after my 5k run on the conveyor belt with the other zombies at the Y, I put a bottle of water in my saddlebag along with my cellphone. I forgot about these two enemies. After a few hours and not hearing my phone ring, I went outside to retrieve the phone. There it was soaking in water. Ugh.

I removed everything and gave it the blow dryer. I put it in a bowl of rice. Tonite, I will make one last attempt to resuscitate the device. In the meantime, I made the walk of shame to the AT and T store. I told the truth. No insurance. The kid behind the counter told me too bad. New phones are 240 bucks.

For the record, I don't like AT and T. They are crooks. In fact, I have filed a complaint against them, a bait and switch thing after they evaporated 5000 roll over minutes. I won, kind of. Now it costs me nearly 100 bucks a month for a phone without data. My blood is still boiling. My "contract" is a full  year from expiring.

Why are we charged separately for calls and texting? Aren't they essentially the same thing? Of course they are. These bastards just found one more excuse to gouge us an extra twenty bucks a month.

Do you remember the good old days when businesses provided a decent service without a contract? Where a fair profit was a 25% return on capital after costs? Those days are over. Now it's just monopolistic predatory businesses trying to wring every last cent they can out of you. The networks are up and paid for, prices should be falling but alas they are not. For the cost of a small car payment, you can have a cellphone. Here's a sweet piece on AT and T's monopolistic tendencies. http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/08/at-reveals-t-mobile-acquisition-really.html

Verizon is not any better. In fact, all these two need to do is price fix. Their prices are nearly identical now. 

It's going to cost me a little over a hundred bucks to get out of my contract. I am going to do it. I was looking at Boost Mobile today. They actually have a program that only costs 35 bucks a month for timely payments. No contract. The downside is that coverage areas and data retrieval are horrible and that stuff does matter in the western boondocks which I call home. What do I gain? About 65 bucks a months or 800 dollars a year. Ninety percent of the time everything else will be the same. Ten percent of the time, I will be inconvenienced while traveling. Or roaming. I guess if I hate the thing, I can always toss the phone out- someplace where the Moonbats tell me it's ok. Maybe with the plastic recyclables.

This phone thing is getting out of hand. I think we are very close to the peak cell phone- maximum gouge. I am a spoiled consumer. They know they got us. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go check this bowl of rice I have on the counter.












Comments

Dutch said…
Brian,

Rice is a popular method for drying out a cell, however, I was advised by a "tech" in the industry to try something he said usually worked much better.

1 - Disassemble the phone as far as was practical (I used a jeweler's screw driver kit and the torx for a blackberry and disassembled mine completely)

2 - Pour (literally) rubbing alcohol over all of the phone pieces, effectively washing it in alcohol.

3 - Set all the pieces aside and a dry place (I laid mine out on a paper plate on top of the fridge) and leave it for 3 - 4 days (I left mine for 5).

4 - Reassemble and test. (I worked. I previously drenched, completely dead phone was working again.)

YMMV.
Brian said…
Thanks Dutch. I may have to do that. My alternatives are all looking very pricey.
davecydell said…
Gee, I was gonna say soak it in a glass of bourbon, but Dutch posted first.
On the bright side, you can still drink the bourbon.

Popular posts from this blog

The "Keeping Time" Has Arrived- The Sunday Collage

The Killing of Craig Robertson- The Sunday Collage

The United States- The World's Biggest Banana Republic