It was a fun game for a while: Bluetooth or crazy? While loitering in Chicago’s Union Station at 10:30 p.m. over spring break, this is a game my friend and I played to pass the time until our train came. And yes, it’s still an awesome game, especially when you’re bored in traffic or in the basement of a metropolitan transportation station.  

Our generation will probably make landlines obsolete (Though, fun fact, currently when you make your one phone call from jail, it needs to be to a land line, so says ANTM alumnus Elyse Sewel). And with a ton of flashy hardware, why shouldn’t we? If Louis CK’s spiel on David Letterman or Tina Fey’s on 30 Rock was any indication, a clunky house phone didn’t do anyone any favors. 

I didn’t realize how technology had become ingrained in my life until I saw that several posts on my Facebook news feed and Twitter home page were submitted by cell phone. While I’m still coming to terms with the inherent narcissism that comes with tweeting, I cede: It’s a great way to pass along information quickly, if posted responsibly. Prime example: that guy who tweeted the plane crash he experienced. I even learned in one of my COM classes how to Tweet the news. I knew my degree was good for something. 

I’m not saying that you need a phone with Internet access, and most models seem to do that now in any case. But there’s something about having the power of eliminating the personal computer as middleman I find very appealing, as do many of my peers. I even have the haphazard vision of tweeting the movements of the Green Line trains, which would be awesome the next time I’m running late to Logan and there’s no trolley in sight. 

Due for a gadget upgrade, I’ve been at the Verizon store a couple times and the cheapest option there, a tiny $20 Samsung phone, looks like it should come with a McDonald’s Happy Meal. Any option under $100 doesn’t fare much better. They’re not nearly as exciting as the devices on the fancy Blackberry display that cost $100-200 plus monthly fees in addition to basic phone service. 

Alternately there’s the iPhone which, for whatever reason, I find shiny and adorable, and I’d love one. I finally went to the Apple online store to see how much the thing costs and… wow! They don’t even tell you how much it is unless you give them your social security number for a credit check. A great start.

The AT&T website is a little more forgiving, requiring only a zip code to get the financial specs. The device itself is $199 at its cheapest. Then, there’s at least an additional $75-ish bucks a month, though I know many users pay more. That doesn’t even include the bluetooth headset (for about $100) so you can join the crazy horde in traffic hands-free.

We’ve a recession on, and the last time I threw my information into a database was to research Massachusetts state health insurance since I’ll be losing parental coverage once I don my cap and gown. And, oh yeah, I still don’t have a job lined up post-graduation, either. 

The gadget-craze thrives at COM, from photojournalism majors with their gorgeous digital cameras to MacBook Pros with the latest edition of Adobe Creative Suite. We’re creative people, pursuing creative fields and we need the tech specs to go with it. But eventually the motherboard will crash and Canon will unveil its latest model and suddenly I’ll need $500 for the latest CS upgrade so I can stay competitive with my peer group. Frankly, it’s exhausting, not just expensive.

After all that, from my impoverished, terrified vantage point, paying about $1,200 a year just for phone service seems crazy, as fine as the end results would be. It sucks that there’s no middle ground: you can pay a lot (iPhone!) or a little (plastic toy). Despite country-wide financial hardship, as long as gadgetry remains popular and necessary, it’s going to cost a lot. And until I make more than $25K a year, I’ll just have to lust from afar. Unless, I’m missing some option, in which case dear reader speak up!