Last year, around this time, the battery in my cell phone decided to give up. "I can't take it anymore! I'm jumping ship!" So, I went to my cell phone dealer to remedy the problem. The salesman explained to me that the battery would cost me about $45, and a newer, better phone would only cost me $50. Since my phone was a couple years old, I thought it sounded like a pretty sweet deal. The thing that the salesman left out and avoided with a bunch of deceptive wordplay was the 2 year contract that I needed to tack on to my current contract. In other words, I got swindled into a new contract because of a bad battery.

In the last couple weeks, I have noticed that my cell phone battery has had trouble keeping power. It's almost exactly one year later. I smell trouble.

I would not be surprised if this is what they want to happen. Our batteries die a year early and we're forced to buy a new phone, because it's "cheaper." Garg. Capitalism blows. Make sure to take part in Buy Nothing Day.

Garg.