I was at a friend's house for dinner last night and got into a conversation with a woman I've known for several years. She is a hard-working, single mom of four teenagers. Yup, four teenagers. The conversation turned to the desire of her fourteen-year-old daughter for a cell phone. Not to actually talk on, of course.
"These kids don't talk to each other at all," she said. "It's all text." But with four teens, signing on for additional monthly fees and data plans just isn't in the family budget.
"Okay," I said, "listen to this. I recently found a new company that has a solution. Scratch Wireless sells you the phone and you can use it anywhere there's wi-fi -- and that's more places than you might realize. But here's the thing -- you can also text from anywhere for free. Oh, and they can make a 911 call anytime if they need to."
"But how much is the monthly fee?" My friend asked, clearly not believing me.
"Nothing. Nada. No monthly fee whether it's wi-fi or to text. And if they need to make a call or get data when there's no wi-fi, they can buy a day pass for $1.99 or a 30-day pass for $14.99, but only if they need it. Otherwise, there are no fees."
"But she can text anytime?"
"Anytime."
"From anywhere?"
"Anywhere. Well, anywhere in the US."
"How much is the phone?"
"Right now, they only have one phone -- a Motorola Photon Q for $269 -- but they are planning to add two new phones this fall, one that will cost $199 and another in the $300-range."
Yup, I love telling people things they won't believe.
