Yes the throwaway society is what we are. Everything is made fancier and cheaper which automatically becomes more fragile. Cell phones, pagers, computers are expected to be replaced every year now. ANd it has nothing to do with technology progress. It's an economic equation in which time of use became a deciding factor in how well the items are made. Shorter the time, better for the company that will sell more equipment. <br><br>I remember when pagers first came out and I got one. It lasted me four years and it still would, except paging companies "required" you to get a new one. New units broke every year and were not as strong and abuse resistant. Now life span on the pager is 6 months. Same goes for cell phones, pdas computers. But all this is only mendatory if you want to keep up with the hype.