I've been using cell phones since the mid-1990s, but long before that there were car phones that worked on an entirely different system. These were installed in vehicles and had a transmitter in the trunk and an external antenna at the end of a pole mounted on the rear fender. They had a range of about 40 miles from the land stations, which were situated in heavily-populated areas. The rental location vans that we used for photography outside of our New York studio had them, as did rental limos and executive cars. But they were a pain to use. First, you had to find a clear channel by trying all the buttons, then you tried to raise an operator who connected you to your party. This worked pretty well close to our Manhattan base, but less well in other areas. In the Hamptons we drove to the top of a hill near Southampton from which we could connect with the operator in New London, Connecticut. In New Hope, Pennsylvania, we had to go through an operator in Trenton, New Jersey. I never even tried to receive calls, although it could be done.
In the late 1970s we tried a hand-held portable unit. It worked, but was too expensive so we didn't make the purchase.
Then, in the 1980s the cellular system was introduced. This was an incredibly vast improvement, but by then I had left the photo business and no longer needed one all that badly. So I waited until the price came down, which it did.
Since the mid-1990s I have had several cell phones, with several service providers. But I was paying for a lot more capacity than I actually used or needed.
So in mid-2006 I decided to rationalize and find a service that fit my limited needs without waste. I only make or receive a few calls a week, so subscription services with monthly charges no longer made sense. What I needed was a pre-paid service without a contract or monthly charge. After investigating several service providers, I cancelled my Cingular account and got a Tracfone.
I've been quite happy with this as it always works well, and have used it in several different states for both local and long-distance calls without extra charges. In fact, for me it has proven to be quite economical.
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