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One of my close family members has been homeless, off and on, for several years in Los Angeles. His most precious possession, when he is on the street, is his cell phone; it helps him stay in touch with both his friends (who also have cell phones) and his care providers. His most frequent misadventures are connected with running out of minutes on his phone.
I suggested to him that all homeless people ought to be issued cell phones by social service agencies. "No," he said, " they'd just sell them."
Although, come to think of it, "avoiding commmoditization" should be a basic human right.
I have to disagree with you here. Commoditization of cell phones means that they become cheap and widely available, which is good in terms of getting them into the hands of the poor. The people who fight commoditization are the manufacturers, because it means severely decreased profit margins.
