You could make a case that it's not so bad paying more for a phone that shows movies, can talk all over the planet, accesses the internet, takes pictures, and does all kinds of things I don't know about since I own a plain old flip phone.

The "simpler way to get that done" was to not create the government/corporate monopoly in the first place, but that's water long under the bridge.

ATT isn't much of a monopoly threat now that there are cell and internet competitors pouring out of the woodwork. It's interesting how supposedly indestructible "infrastructure monopolies" have been routed around by technological innovation. This has been made possible by a very light regulatory touch, and I don't want to see that change.

There is indeed a price for everything. We get in trouble when we try to pretend there isn't.