$8 doesn't sound like much, but nowadays you can buy a fast, fully functional cell phone with no strings (or contracts) attached at Best Buy or Amazon for $20.
Android 4.4 (a nice recent version), 4.5" color touchscreen, 5 MP camera, all the usual things that cell phones have -- for $20.
The screen is 800 x 480. Pretty good for a cell phone sized screen!
2 1/2 years ago I bought a MUCH crappier Samsung Dart USED for $113 shipped to use for game testing. And I shopped around first, believe it or not (I can't believe it, personally!) Slow, 320x240 screen, an old version of Android even for that time, etc.
I can't believe how they afford to give you that much for $20. It must be a loss leader, hoping you'll sign up for service.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K2XX4OY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00K2XX4OY&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwchanco-20&linkId=SXDELSHZKKJOFYGBI mean, the 5 MP digital camera in that phone is worth the $20. Nevermind a portable wifi-enabled computer that runs pretty much every state-of-the-art program for Android.
People got excited about the Raspberry Pi for $35. This is probably faster, and comes with a battery, screen, etc.!
And some of you might not realize, but every cell phone can be used to make 911 calls, WITH OR WITHOUT a paid service plan. So for $20 you could use this as an emergency phone.