Laura made an interesting observation today. She suggested that cell phones might actually make for stronger extended families with nearly ubiquitous features such as free nights and weekends and free long distance as well as not quite universal features like free calls within the network or plans such as T-Mobile’s MyFaves. Of course that would depend on whether people use those features to connect with family members, but the potential is certainly there. I know I have talked with my not-local family members much more since getting my cell phone with many of those family-friendly features.