# Happy Cranks-giving! (November mini-rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** monthly-mini-rant\ **Created:** [November 1, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-cranks-giving-november-mini-rants/1024477 "2025-11-01T14:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 216
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-cranks-giving-november-mini-rants/1024477/216 "2025-11-16T13:53:51Z")
All you want is a mobile phone. All they want is to sell you a very high margin portable supercomputer. Look at the “bargain” aspect of it though. The monthly payments total $1600 ± a few cents, and the suggested retail is $2320, or so they say. Wow, you’re “saving” almost $750 by buying it from them! Hurry up and sign up before the deal goes away! Why yes, I’m being cynical / sarcastic. Retail commerce hasn’t been about providing what the consumer wants to buy versus what the vendor wants to sell since, oh, maybe 1850. If we’d had better archivists down the centuries I suspect we could cite one of Aristotle’s contemporaries writing a similar rant. ETA: @wolfpup might find this a useful discussion: > [@What's a good low-cost cell phone?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-low-cost-cell-phone/1008952): > > I want it unlocked with 5g and wireless charging and a Droid. As cell phones are disposable now a days, I cannot justify spending $1500 on a Samsung S24 Ultra. My current Samsung is 3 years old and has issues, the charger falls out and of course needs a new battery. I look at reviews online and what worries me is everyone has the exact same phones listed as the best and all are $600 or more. I’m not a CTer but it seems … odd. According to the reviews I should buy a Google Pixel 9 but I have… Note that it starts about a year ago, then went dormant after 90 posts and was revived by the OP yesterday at post #91. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-cranks-giving-november-mini-rants/1024477)._