Where In the US Can You Get Just a Cell Phone?

arakon writes "I am looking around for a cell phone for my technically challenged mother and all she wants is just a phone, and yet there seem to be no carriers in the US that carry a plain cell phone with good reception and battery life. All of them bundle cameras, PDAs, MP3 players, and a kitchen sink with a battery life of 2 hours, all for the low price of $350 or more... Having looked around, the Motorola F3 is exactly what she wants but it doesn't seem to be available in the US. If we order it online will it work on US carriers? Are there any comparable products out there with a similar feature set and price range available for US networks?"

Comments

Thank you!

[Mr_Silver]

I, for one, am extremely grateful that this question has been posted to Slashdot.

The next time someone moans "oh, I just want a phone that does talking and texting - why do no phones do this any more?", I can point them to here and hopefully shut another Slashdot phone whinger up.

Then the rest of us can get back to enjoying our phones with Bluetooth, Java, IM, GPS, camera, web-browsing, calendar, PC synchronisation and MP3 playback.

Seriously, did you even try?

[TrappedByMyself]

Within 30 seconds of reading your whiny post, I specced out $39.99 monthly plan +$35 sign up fee from Verizon Wireless with a basic phone (not even a camera) that is free with a 2 year contract.

Re:I want one of those!

[PopeRatzo]

all she wants is just a phone

And people in hell want ice water.

I want an operating system that's not running surveillance on me. I want a car that has better gas mileage than a 1975 Honda. I want a health care system that won't send me into bankruptcy if I get sick. I want a news media that doesn't just pass along presidential press releases as God's own truth. I want a President that has better than C- average and who cares about more than cutting taxes for the rich and not admitting he's wrong. I want a country that doesn't believe that half the population is the enemy.

But like your mom, tonight I'd settle for "just a phone". But the big phone companies aren't going to give it to us because the "free market" is fiction and we have become the consumables.