I wonder if anybody plans on manufacturing a phone. And if they did, would any cellphone providers offer it? There is so much junk being added to these devices, and I'm glad to see people who want all that are getting what they want. For the rest of us, there's nothing.

I think, Ed, the phone is going the way of the typewriter. Even if you only want a typewriter, today you buy a PC and run a word processor. My guess is that the cost of the cellular radio isn't paid for by the price point of “just a phone.”

(And, I'd posit, save for the data plan, that those who want “just a phone” would do just fine with, say, an iPhone… especially if they still want an address book, etc., which is far easier to manage on it than on phones of yesteryears.)

Finding a cell phone that absolutely won't do stuff other than make calls is getting more difficult, but isn't impossible. There are quite a few phones, though, that while they will do things other than make calls, don't require you to do anything funny beyond punching in a number and hitting send.

Yeah, I've got one that's considered “bare bones” by my provider. I am being careful to protect it and plan to keep it for a very long time.