Warp wrote:
>   Don't know about how things are where you live, but at least here
> cellphones are *by far* the cheapest way to own a phone line. A landline
> is nowadays a lot more expensive than a cheap cellphone connection.

	Where I live, I was getting a $12/mo for having a landline, and 5 cents 
for each (local) call (cheaper in the daytime). Total would be under 
$20/mo. Or you could pay about $22/mo to get unlimited local calls. If I 
wanted to make long distance calls, I'd have to use a prepaid card (say 
2-3 cents/minute), or get a long distance plan. I used to make lots of 
long distance calls, but rarely do now.

	With a typical cell phone plan, you can call anywhere in the country 
and get "charged" the same. Most people either have to pay $30 + taxes 
(comes to about $35) or if they talk as much as I do/did, they'll have 
to opt for a $40 + tax (about $46/mo). Keep in mind that these prices 
are with the contracts - which are now often 2 years instead of 1 year.

	Even with lots of long distance calls, I wouldn't hit the $35 that 
you'd get with the cheapest reasonable cell phone plan.

	Prepaid phones here are no good if you talk quite a bit, or even a 
moderate amount. I think the cheapest I've seen is 10 cents a minute, 
with a requirement of a minimum $10/mo. I have one that only requires 
$20 for every three months, but the per minute charge is much more 
(hence only for emergency purposes).

	I have neither. I have a VoIP line. Can call anywhere in the country. 
Unlimited minutes. $20/mo. Good quality - no one can tell.

> Especially if you don't call a lot (like in my case) it can be *ridiculously*
> cheap. (My last cellphone bill was something like 23 euros. And the bill was
> for the last 6 months. I actually just changed to an even cheaper contract,
> so the bills will lower even from that.)

	That's ridiculously cheap. Over here, if you're not on prepaid, you'll 
pay almost that much for one month (with, say, only 300 daytime minutes 
per month). As I said, prepaid is expensive here and not a viable option.

>   It can be very handy when your few friends can contact you anytime
> anywhere.

	That's the cell phone culture part I was complaining about.

	I 'm not big on being connected. I don't do IM (used to, quit it years 
ago). And I really don't want to be called when I'm driving, in a queue 
somewhere, or walking to work, or at work. I could turn the cell phone 
off, but that would require turning it on and off far too often in one 
day. More irritatingly, at least over here, people won't understand a 
person like me who has a cell phone, carries it around, but has it off 
most of the time. But if I have a landline, they totally understand.

	If cell phones were cheaper than all other options, I'd likely get it 
and keep it at home.<G>

	Cell phones are quite convenient when arranging things with friends 
(e.g. picking people up, etc). And I do use my cell phone for that 
purpose, as that requires only a few minutes (i.e. less than 10) a week. 
Otherwise, it stays off. Which is convenient, because I dislike having 
to charge stuff up often (cell phones, PDA's, etc).

	

-- 
BASIC isn't; C stands for Confusing...


                     /\  /\               /\  /
                    /  \/  \ u e e n     /  \/  a w a z
                        >>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
                                    anl

Post a reply to this message