"Regular" Cell Phones > Tracfone

Zeldafan69, You brought up an important point about the age groups that use TracFones to "Regular" Cell Phones. I shall rebutt this point. I concede to the fact that the vast majority of elderly folk, even if they have cell phones, do not need text messaging plans, much less complicated airtime plans. Considering the elderly typically do not drive or travel places where a cell phone is in need, a TracFone would suit them well. The same goes for middle-aged folk, as, in cell phone terms, they fall into the category of elderly ...However, they are the only ones it really suits. Let's move our way up the age scale, shall we? Starting with 13-18 year old adolescents, who receive their first cell phones at this age, or, at least, should (is it just me, or does it drive you nuts when you see an 8-year old walking around with a bluetooth?). In my previous argument, I had only spoken for the point of texting, and left out the main purpose cell phones are for; talking. The average teen spends 7.7 hours on the phone per week, according to the MSNBC report in link below. http://www.msnbc.msn.com... That's 1.1 hours of phone time per day, which equals out to 66 minutes per day. With the average total texting rate of 31 equaling out to 9.3 minutes per day, the average teen would spend 75.3 minutes per day on their TracFone-62.7% of their airtime a day! If one was to keep up with their airtime minutes, this would lead them to buying a TracFone card every two days, equaling out to a bill of $450 per month. Better hope you're living with the Rockefellers. According to the link below, 75% of adults own cell phones, 62% take access to the phone's features, such as internet and digital voice connect, and 31% text on a typical day. If all these adults had a special attraction to TracFones, stat wizards can kiss that 62% goodbye; TracFones are, sadly, not equipped with internet access, nor digital voice connect, cameras, or any other fancy features. http://www.msnbc.msn.com... The average cell phone-using adult spends, say, about 20 minutes on his cell phone per day. This would lead him to buying airtime every six days, with a monthly bill ringing out to $180. But, let's not forget, 31% of adults use the text messaging feature. Thanks to a new study, some parents have hopped onto the bandwagon that texting "helps improve a teen to parent connection". I would say the teens and parents send a total of 8 messages a day. Plus maybe two total sent and received to a relative or neighbor. That's ten text messages per day, which equals out to another 3 minutes used. Yes, it's only three added minutes, but time is money, with TracFone customers quickly running out of time. Let's another look at my cell phone plan: 700 Talking Minutes (shared with my mother and father)=$10 1500 Total Texts Per month, separate from those used to talk (going over the limit=.10 cents per text)=$15 Monthly bill=$25 However, this is only a cog in a family of three. So, let's add my parents into the plan. Although they don't text, I'll pretend they do, for the sake of the site: 700 total talking minutes 1500 total texts per month each Monthly bill=$135 And that's for a family of three. Now, let's look if a family of three each had their own TracFone: Teen monthly bill=$450 per month Father monthly bill=$180 Mother monthly bill=$180 Total monthly bill=$810 per month $810 for less...$135 for more...hmmm...that's a tough one... While elderly and middle-aged folk use cell phones, they neglect to use them to their full advantages, which teens and adults do. Dictionary.com's definition of "better" is 'of superior quality or excellence'. If an object has a greater capacity of its limits, and can go further boundaries than its adversary, than that object is indeed 'better'. An ironing set that consists of a stable ironing board, a hot, steam-powered iron and a functional cord is no doubt better than a one-legged ironing board with an ice-cold iron and a rat-chewed cord; the first iron can do the job better, and wont have to be replaced as the other iron will be, charging the consumer even more money, and wasting their ample time. Irons are targeted at adults and middle-aged persons, rather than children. Let's say the first iron was targeted at the adults and middle-aged persons, the second targeted at the children. The first iron is of superior quality than the second iron, and is targeted at people who are frequent iron users. The second iron is of considerably less quality, and is targeted at those which do not use irons as frequently, if at all, as the first group. The combination of object #1's capacity of its limits and going further boundaries than its adversary with the targeting of its marketing to more frequent-using customers makes it 'better' than object #2, which is of lesser quality, capacity of its limits, and is targeted to those who would not take advantage of the object itself. Thus, a "Regular" cell phone is 'better' than a TracFone. I await your rebuttal.