Hasta La Gadget!

This was bound to happen at some point.

Although almost 90 percent of U.S. households now have a cell phone, the amount of voice minutes consumed has stayed relatively flat. But for the first time, wireless industry association CTIA reports that the amount of data in text, e-mail messages, streaming video, music, and other apps on mobile devices in 2009 surpassed the amount of voice data in calls, according to the New York Times.

“Originally, talking was the only cellphone application,” said Dan Hesse, chief executive of Sprint Nextel, in the article. “But now it’s less than half of the traffic on mobile networks.” He added that within the next few years, it’s possible cell phone users will pay primarily for the data they use instead of by voice minutes.