Sticking my toe in the 21st Century

[seedcorn]

$120 for one smart phone bill? Wow. We have to pay $90/month for land line because of internet. All the land line does is ring with solicitors.

My experience is that smart phones do not have the reception that flips do. If you have no signal, internet doesn't help.

 

[ducks4you]

Phones are for communication.

Old story, beginning airline industry came to railroad magnets to invest. They were told,"we are in the rail industry and not the airline industry." Correct answer should have been they are in the transport industry with rails being one aspect of it.

EXACTLY!!!! I finally got a smartphone last November, an LG Android, and the cheapest phone that I could buy at Verizon. I HAVE to have Verizon bc I drive to places where the other services are sketchy as I have witnessed from the people that live there!
We have had a cell phone since 1987, so we are NOT new to the cellular world.
HERE IS MY ADVICE:
DO NOT use your phone for outside photos!! I keep a pocket camera for that. NOW, you have to pay fully to replace your phones. Many people who have traded in their phones and now have the latest I-Phone do NOT realize that it will cost you over $1K to replace it.
Pocket cameras are cheap and give you LOADS of pixels.
Our previous non smart phone bill for 4 lines was $135.00/month. It has doubled but will be going down so that we can gradually PAY FOR the 4 new smart phones. I cringe when I hear somebody say, "Oh, I broke my phone and I'll just buy another one." I don't think they feel the same way about their health care!!!!

 

[digitS']

We just need historical perspective (and etymology and paleontology, for that matter. Did you know that they are trying to bring back the Siberian Mammoth? ... but, I digress ...)

I remember rural electrification and how cheap the new fangled appliances were. Almost giveaways ... but, they weren't.

@ducks4you , I think we have the same phone but I'm too lazy to pry the case off to see ... I suspect we don't use it to check the same stock prices, tho.

@seedcorn , I think I see more United Parcel and FedEx airplanes these days than those carrying passengers. Add in the USAF planes flying refueling and those planes dominate my airspace (and fill my air with diesel smoke).

Steve
whose g gt grandfather opposed the transcontinental railroad ...

 

[baymule]

We have Apple I-Phones on AT&T. We have 4 lines with data plans and the bill is $240 a month. When DD got married, it was "just add DSIL to plan for $20" and so we did. It has sorta grown since then...... AT&T sent a text to DH telling him they would no longer service his ancient flip phone after December 2016, so @thistlebloom he too, left his flip phone in the dust. He now adores his I-Phone, takes pictures and videos, sends, receives and enjoys it.

Any time we go to Doctors office and are in the waiting room, everybody has their phones out, glued to them, but not us. We are appalled by the phone zombies who seem to have no life beyond a tiny glowing screen.

 

[thistlebloom]

@Nyboy , I got the cheapest phone Verizon had. It's a Samsung Galaxy J3V. $168.

Verizon gives the best coverage out here and we've never had a problem with them. I did toy with going with a pay as you go phone, but the spotty coverage most of them get changed my mind.

Kid#2 has some off the wall little service and pays $12/month, but he is an anomaly and only has a phone for music and downloading books, and because I insist he keep it with him in case of emergencies. But his coverage is unreliable.

We have a basic service with unlimited text and calls and half a gig of data, and pay $60/ month for two phones. My new phone will add $7 month to that. We'll see how it works out, but I don't anticipate needing to go up to more data.

Good for you @baymule for not being a phone zombie.
Aptly put!

 

[Carol Dee]

Before the Wildbunch aka my children broke my phone it got a much better signal out than DH's. Mine was like $20 and his was like $250. My minutes cost $10/month pay as you go and his cost $120/month plan. I still haven't broke down and bought another phone because we have a house phone also $10/month bundled with our internet bill. He wants me to get a smart phone but I tell him the reason I don't get a phone is because we can't afford it because of his phone bill every month, also the reason we don't have cable with his ESPN or vacations anymore, or any other thing he mentions we should buy. He refuses to go back to straight talk ($45/month) of course I also have no problem with doing without ESPN, lol.

I like the way you think, too.

 

[lcertuche]

@Carol Dee great minds think alike!

 

[ducks4you]

We just need historical perspective (and etymology and paleontology, for that matter. Did you know that they are trying to bring back the Siberian Mammoth? )

Steve
whose g gt grandfather opposed the transcontinental railroad ...

Yes, I DID know this!!! **adjusts nerd glasses**
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6374118/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1