New phones and customer service

My cell phone has been sorely lacking as of late. Every time I call someone, my phone lasts for about five minutes before it dies. It wasn't always like that mind you. My phone and I used to have conversations lasting longer than 30 minutes with people. I bring this up because I just signed up for a new cell phone.

I am a Verizon wireless customer and I do the whole 2 year deal to get a new phone every two years. In my experience, whoever is making these cell phones is constructing them so they fail right about 2 years. My question is are they doing it on purpose? Could they make a cell phone that lasted for 5 or 10 years. I hate electronics failing on me for no reason. I understand that daily wear and tear will cause things to fail. I mean people's bodies break down after a certain period of time. I guess you could say it's "human nature". I am just a little suspicious about every 2 years needing a new cell phone.

This experience of getting a new cell phone also introduced me to the online service help. even though I have a Ph.D., I was still having trouble ordering my new cell phone. Instead of sending an e-mail and waiting for a reply or calling someone, I chatted with someone. It actually was helpful, but I was wondering where the person I was chatting with was sitting. India, China, America. They could be anywhere and it doesn't matter because they don't have to speak fluent English. Does this mean that outsourcing is going to be more common.

Anyways, I'm psyched to get a new phone where I can actually talk to someone for longer than 5 minutes. What did I ever do without a cell phone? I probably was waiting for someone to meet me someplace. Bogus.