I've always said that one of my biggest pet peeves is someone, be it the government, mass media, or corporations, taking advantage of the ignorant.  No one does this more than the cell phone companies.  They don't sell phones... they sell data.  Picture this...

Imagine I'm selling you a car.  The car is cool, sexy, and all your friends will envy you for having it.  Now, here's the best part... I'm willing to sell it to you for only $2000.  In fact, since you already bought a car from us two years ago, you can trade it in and it will only be $1000

You:  AWESOME!  Where do I sign?
Me:  Hold up... first you have to agree to some stuff...
You:  Uh... okay (as your attention is still drawn to that new car smell)...
Me:  First, you have to buy your gas from us... you can buy a month's worth at a time for $200 or pay per gallon at $5 per gallon
You:  Oh, okay... what if I don't use $200 worth of gas in a month?
Me:  It's too bad.  You're paying for the ability to use up to $200 worth of gas.  BUT if you accidentally use more, we charge you $5 per mile you go over.
You:  Well, that doesn't sound so good...
Me:  Well, we have this unlimited mileage plan... it's only $1000 a month.
You:  Only?  I could buy a new car every month for that price...
Me:  Shoot, I was hoping you wouldn't notice that... but think about it... if you go over your limit by 160 miles, it would have been better to just have the unlimited plan.  DUH.
You:  Well, then, I have to get the unlimited plan... I'd be crazy not to.
Me:  Yep, crazy... second, we have this cool feature where if you drive 10x slower, you can see all this beautiful scenery outside your window...  and you can do it all you want for only $50 extra a month.  If you don't want to pay the $50 extra, we can simply charge you $1 for every time you look out your side window.
You:  Wait, you're going to charge me MORE for using the car LESS?
Me:  Yes, but it's really popular... teens do it like 1000 times a day.  Oh, I forgot to mention, if you don't get the unlimited window look feature, EACH TIME someone looks into your windows, we have to charge you $1 as well...
You:  So you're charging them $1 to look at me, and then charge me $1 for them looking at me?
Me: Yes, unless either of you get the unlimited look plan.  Please do.  By you driving so much slower it saves us A LOT of money.
You:  Wait, you're charging me more for saving you MORE money?
Me:  Oh, crap, I wasn't supposed to tell you that part.
You:  Fine, give me the unlimited look plan... sigh...
Me: Don't be sad... you're making me very rich.  Shouldn't that make you happy?
You:  Well, at least I get this really cool car that can drive really fast.
Me: Well, actually, you can't drive really fast unless you also purchase this unlimited accelerator plan... it's only an extra $100 a month.
You:  Well, what if I don't want to drive really fast?  I just like this car... it has a cool radio.
Me: ... uh... why wouldn't you want to drive really fast?  Everyone's doing it... about two or three times a month... usually just to show their friends that they can.
You:  Well, it's getting kind of expensive...
Me:  Well, then we can't sell you this car.
You:  What?
Me: Yeah, since it's impossible for me to conceive of why you would want this car and not want to drive it really fast a couple times a month, I can't sell you this car... but we also have some very nice bicycles...
You:  I didn't come here for a bicycle... I wanted that car for only $1000 that you initially offered!  (pause) Fine, give me the unlimited accelerator plan too.
Me:  Did I mention that you have to commit to buying your gas from us for at least two years?
You:  ... sigh... where do I sign...
Me:  Right here... with my diamond encrusted pen...

So for the low low price of only $28,600 you got the car of your dreams... for two years... when you have to do this all over again... at least to get the coolest new phone... I mean car...

Here are some facts:

1. They're counting on the fact that you won't use all your minutes so you'll buy more than you will ever need.  They win if you fall short... and they REALLY win if you go over.
2. Texting uses a minuscule amount of data bandwidth.  You use 1000 times more data bandwidth by making a phone call.  By charging you (AND the person you're texting) for texting any amount, they're making the equivalent of a 10,000% profit margin - and charging you for it.  It would be like the corner gas station charging you $3 a gallon for gas normally, but $300 per gallon if you get it a teaspoon at time.  They should encourage you to only text and not make any phone calls... instead they charge you for the privilege of saving them money.
3. There is absolutely NOTHING technology-wise that will keep you from using any phone... including those cool smartphones or app phones... as JUST A PHONE.  They'll try to tell you that they can't work without a data plan, but that's a BIG LIE.  There's also nothing technology-wise to prevent you from downloading those must-have apps directly to your phone from a USB connection to your computer.  Data plans are a waste of money.  With more and more businesses offering free wifi, you could buy a new netbook EVERY YEAR for the price people pay for slow, spotty, and unreliable phone data plans.  Got a data plan to get email?  See texting fact above.  An email is just a slightly larger text.
4. $70 a month is, and will always be, $1680 every two years... and that's before all the hidden fees and taxes that mysteriously pop up on every bill.