Original Cell Phone Plan

When I was a sophomore at The University of Michigan in 1998-1999, cell phones were finally becoming affordable and people were replacing their land-lines. As a poor student, it was a tough choice because the plans were kind of tricky. I think I ended up with a 500 peak minute plan for $50/mo with free nights and weekends and first incoming minute free with Nextel and unlimited direct connect. No internet, no texting.

The funny part about this story is that a buddy of mine, to protect his name, we will call him "Simonizer." He decided to go with Sprint, who had a special "student" minutes plan. This plan consisted of 60 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, and first incoming minute free for a fee of $29 or $39/mo ( can't remember exactly how much). 60 anytime minutes is not a whole lot - and any additional anytime minute you use costs a fortune. The funny thing was we would call him and try to use up all his anytime minutes by calling him for no reason. Eventually Simonizer figured it out and when we would call him, he would say " this better be quick" and then hang-up on you at the 59 second mark.

Ridiculous.

Now we can get unlimited phone, internet, and text for $69.99 per phone. Not a bad value!