Do you remember getting your first cell phone? Wasn’t that sweet?
I remember getting it for emergencies when I traveled by car long distances in rural areas. I told the people in my life that it would make me safer and it did. It was also incredibly convenient when I helped people with my IT consulting business at the time. I could multitask on the landline, and still be able to talk on the cell phone. I bought a second landline so that I could run the modem full-time downloading programs, updates, and all of the things that I needed to learn.
Why am I talking about this now? I have kind of gone full circle with phones. Now that I WFH a cell phone is less important. I shared earlier that I switched to a low-cost cell phone plan, and probably more people would benefit from switching as well. I don’t get any benefit from sharing this, but I would bet that most people are doing less traveling and mobility isn’t as important as it used to be.
What else I remember about my first cell phone is how indestructible it was. It was a Nokia and it was free with the plan but I had it for years and it still looked new. I used to play the snake game on it and that was fun. I am glad that we have the cell phone functionality we do now. I am also glad that I got to be a part of experiencing the newness and joy of having a cell phone.
I won’t be buying a landline but as people are trying to save money, I bet that it is getting a second look. I still live in apartments, but if I lived in a house I would probably have a landline and no more cell phone. As wonderful as they are, I just can’t justify the high price of cell phones. I am tired of paying for depreciating assets, and the rest of my life is going to be about buying as little as I need to survive. I am not going to contribute to wasting resources anymore.
My cell phone will be used until it breaks and then I will get a used one as cheaply as possible. The days of new cell phones are over for me. They aren’t compelling anymore.