iPhone: Touch The Wave

[The Dong]

  >> probably you couldn't ring people with the good'ol tascam :)
> 
> True, but neither do you need to slosh out €600 for a mobile phone.

Back in those days, if your work gave you a pager (or a phone the size 
and weight of a brick) to put you on call, it wasn't considered a great 
thing. It was a nightmare, literally.

Hate mobile phones much?
Nobody really needs one.
Those that choose to have one are agreeing to pay ludicrous premiums (or 
forcing the caller to pay these premiums) for a service that enslaves 
you in too many ways; a service that is cheaper to maintain than wires, 
yet costs way more etc.
The argument that "I need one for work" is a lie.
The benefits for emergency use are pretty much pointless unless you 
really are going somewhere utterly remote and backward, like Iraq or 
Afghanistan.
Or Texas.

If we rely on using these things, we truly lose our ability to make 
independent decisions, volition is stupefied, relying on the voice on 
the other end to reassure or guide us through every mediocre decision, 
through every escalated humdrum moment.

Just to prove the point: My son has one or another for years and has 
never phoned home using it (for the supposed emergency) nor have I 
phoned him on it. It is just purely an expensive gimmick.

Why do so many love these P'sOS telecom honeypots ? ;)

> against the rather hefty price tag, it's like getting a Lamborghini: 
> really cool, but essentially a nice packaging around what the 
> competition offers for a fraction of the price.

For free with the service, generally.