$free.99

Think about how many free phones Verizon gives out. I'm not just talking about the refurbished ones they "gift" to you when your old one dies. They must give out hundreds of out-of-the-box brand new ones a year. I have one in my left pocket right now. The fact that they can charge $0.00 for a cellular telephone tells us one thing about Verizon -- they must be making a whole lot of profit on those other phone/laptop/email/television/mp3 player/organizer/camera/internet browser devices. It also tells us one thing about ourselves -- Verizon knows that we are suckers for that stuff, they know that if they offer a free phone and a $249 phone, there will be thousands of people who will choose the not-free phone. But when they offer the free phone or one of those somebody-else-brought-this-in-because-it-broke-and-we-kinda-fixed-it-up-but-you-still-have-to-use-your-old-battery-we-will-see-you-again-in-2-months-when-this-one-breaks refurbished phones, it somehow makes them look generous, like they are doing us a favor by giving us free stuff! Not true, they are only able to do that because of the exorbitant profit they are bringing in off of all that other stuff (read: ringtones, aforementioned devices, V-cast, text messaging, 50 year contracts, and mysterious "activation fees" and "other taxes").

Phones should never cost more than $100, ever. I offer this challenge to citizens and subscribers of "the network" -- only buy phones that are under $100. The next time you are perusing the mobiles that are zip tied and tethered to the displays, ask yourself "do i want a free phone or a $300 phone?" Start a revolution.

"I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting.”
~Razr Guevara