Pay phones were disappearing and I was concerned about that for a while. As you know, it’s pointless for me to pay for a cell phone that I would only use in the case of an emergency. That’s a lot of bucks to pay every month even with a basic plan. A pay phone only costs a few cents and it’s all I need for emergencies. I’ve had very few emergencies in the last 20 years… thankfully.
We still need pay phones. Hey, cell phone batteries die. Cell phones stop working. Cell phones lose signals. Cell phones don’t appear in every kid’s backpack. Heck, many kids don’t have cell phones. Let’s hope phone companies keep pay phones even though they know cell phones bring in more money. The challenge is to find the best places to park a pay phone as there aren’t many and they need to be located where people would need them.
Inspiration for this post comes from Toby. Thanks. I agree that posting advertising on pay phones isn’t the best thing to do when targeting execs and business owners.
3 comments
I’ve done well with a prepaid cell phone plan from Virgin Mobile— a minimum of $20 every three months, with the unused balance rolling over to the next billing cycle, suits me just fine. And it even includes AOL Instant Messenger!
I’m curious, have you ever considered getting a cell phone for its email/text messaging capabilities? A lot of hearing people have text messaging capabilities (SMS) on their phones. I myself have a T-Mobile Sidekick because of its $30/mo data-only plan but many of my friends also have Blackberries with similar plans. I use SMS to keep in touch with many of my hearing family members, and I find the web browsing and instant messaging capabilities very handy when I’m in a pinch and need to look up some info on the run.
I have a Sidekick II and I’ve had the battery die on me while out and about.
Besides, what about the many teens and tweens whose parents don’t think they need cell phones yet? Of course, that’s changing somewhat.