Ed Board agrees: cell phones are awesome. Being able to get in contact with friends and family anytime and anywhere is incredibly convenient.
However, cell phones have problems associated with them.
The most apparent is the rapid collapse of common courtesy among cell phone users. Many people are comfortable with carrying on a cell phone conversation while ordering a meal.
We find this appalling. Not only does this slow down the food acquisition process, it is also discourteous to the person on the other end of the line. When conversation is interrupted to answer questions like, “Do you want fries with that,” or, “What vegetables would you like on your sub,” it’s a major annoyance to all parties involved.
Ed Board frowns upon this sort of behavior, but it seems to be quickly becoming the norm.
The other problem with cell phones is the cost. Almost every cell user has experienced the hundred-dollar overcharge. Just a few minutes roaming or over plan can translate into many dollars in extra fees.
Why is this?
Simply because phone companies have the power.
It doesn’t cost them anything extra to carry additional service. Once the towers are erected and the satellite’s in place, the only overhead that companies need to worry about is their employees’ salaries.
Admittedly there is wear and tear on their equipment, but that has nothing to do with the amount of calls that they handle.
And yet, they continue to get away with it. Just as we had the Bell Telephone monopoly last century, we have the cell phone consortium now.
Well, that won’t change either, since everyone seems to be comfortable with paying $40 to $400 a month in order to converse conveniently.
Our final complaint is with those little antennae in the phones themselves. Those are totally worthless. Has anyone ever noticed a difference in signal strength by pulling out the antenna?
We didn’t think so.
So, keep calling your friends and family. Keep paying for a service that could be provided for pennies a day. Keep inconveniencing others by using your phone in public.
But we don’t like it. And we’re going to go pout.
