What most of the "Kids" posting on this board forget is that we as consumers should not be strong armed into buying goods or services that we do not wish to have. There is also the fact that most of the kids posting here have never gone a day without Tivo and online gaming with their Xboxes and Playstation 3's. There once was a time when devices like Pocket PC's and PDA's filled the void of smart phones. No data plans required on these devices either! Then, someone got the idea to combine cell phone tech with PDA tech and the rest is history (unless you were not born when this happened).
Now, good luck trying to find a PDA to suit your needs. They have all been replaced by Smart Phones. So yes, I want the functionality of the smart phone without the MANDATORY data plan. I want to chose which features come with my new phone, not what Verizon tells me I should have.
We have all read the news about the **bleep** who dialed the internet with his **bleep** and accrued a two thousand dollars cell bill! And what does Verizon do? To avoid the attention, they smile at the media and say "of course we plan on cutting the bill, we are nice people and we love our customers". In the background, they tack on mandatory data usage fees so that those who are non-techies don't ring up outrageous bills that need to be slashed to the bone so they can look good for the cameras.
Because I can no longer acquire a decent PDA any more, I need the P.I.M. Functionality of the smart phone (i.e.. Notes, Tasks, Contacts, Calendar etc) that can all be tied together in a single device. Alas, Verizon will continue with the forced data plans until they get the message, which I plan on sending loud and clear!
