Why a cell phone doesn't cost $4,000.
I think we can all be grateful that back n the 1980s our federal government didn't see super expensive cell phones that only the rich could afford as a problem to be solved by the government.
If they had tried to help us all, we could have experienced the joys of a Phone Protection and Affordable Call Act (PPACA). The act would have required all of us to buy cell phones to bend the cost curves down and penalize us we failed to purchase one. And it would have mandated the types of calling plans we have to choose from in order to standardize plans and avoid confusing choices beyond our grasp and also bend cost curves down.
Or, because PPACA killed the benefits of capitalism, we could today all still be using giant analog bricks to place voice (only!) calls to this very day, careful to speak quickly before our 100 monthly minutes are used up or before the signal quits.
Oh, and your iPad would look like those old fashioned 18-inch-deep computer monitors we used to use.
On the bright side, at least back then the federal government wouldn't have had the sheer balls to exempt politically connected allies from the provisions of the act.
About Me
- Brian J. Dunn
- I live and write in Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan AB and MA from Eastern Michigan University. One term in the Michigan Army National Guard. Former American history instructor and retired nonpartisan research analyst. I write on Blogger and Substack. Various military and private journals have published my occasional articles on military subjects. See "My Published Works" on the TDR web version or under the mobile version drop-down menu for citations and links.
