Throw Away Your Cell Phone

Here's a gadget that could potentially save you money if you are a compulsive phone thrower (empathy: the ability to identify oneself mentally with a person or thing and so understand his feelings or its meaning). We've had disposable cameras for quite some time and in that "use it up and throw it away" vein that seems to be a trend now, Hop-On Wireless is now putting disposable cellular phones into the hands of the minions. Hop-On's VP of Marketing and Sales, figures that in excess of 27,000 stores will stock the Hop-On cellular phone, which is now in production and will be shipped in mid-September/October. The thing will set you back $30 and includes an earpiece (just in case you live in New York or other far-away places that won't let you jabber on the handset in your car). The Hop-On Wireless phone, made of "environmentally friendly, biodegradable plastic," will give you 60 minutes of out-bound, domestic phone time for that thirty bucks. Hop-On envisions incoming and international capabilities, prepaid plans, Internet access for sports scores, weather reports, stock quotes and other business data to be added to the phone in the near future. Geez, if we're now allowed to throw away cameras and cell phones, I'm gonna go out and buy some paper plates. I promise I'll "recycle" them.