• kora@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      6 months ago

      Because how else are we going to have at least some models out there for people who can’t fucking afford these ridiculous phone prices without doing payment plans?

      Just like health insurance that’s like tied into your mobile plan. We all thought we hated when we paid for minutes, and then for when we were paying for minutes and data, how naive were we.

      • solrize@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        6 months ago

        A locked phone and an overpriced monthly contract is precisely a payment plan. As far cheap phones, I like Motorola but I’m sure other stuff is out there as well.

        • kora@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          6 months ago

          No I’m saying yeah that is the thing that exists right now, and for some people that’s the only way that they can have / use a phone.

          Between planned obsolescence and how careless and demanding in resources even phone apps are becoming now, cheap phones are as bad as really old phonesn

          All I know is that maybe instead of putting a law like this in we’re going to just add the price somewhere else I say we just shut all these companies down and run this cell phone towers ourselves since all of our tax money has been going to these companies for them to build all these things that they don’t ever build or they build the bare minimum to get away with nobody taking the money back and it’s fucked up

      • Mkengine@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        6 months ago

        What does this locking do? Where I live every online vendor offers to pay by installments which addresses the issue that people could not afford the upfront price, why do the phones have to be locked in the US?

        • kora@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          6 months ago

          Because most of these companies have some of the best lobbyists out there how else could they possibly get away with continuously taking money from our taxes and handing it over to them to build all these cell towers and infrastructure that they’ve only Built less than 5% of

      • swayevenly@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        6 months ago

        What are carriers doing now? I remember I used to get a new iphone for like $50 bucks through AT&T but they stopped doing that a while ago.

        • SuzyQ@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          6 months ago

          I miss the $50 phones …

          Now it’s a payment plan for X number of months for the phone - no interest on the amount, or a free (or reduced price, I think) of the phone if you have Y plan for Z months.