Man, so many anti-social Luddites on this website. Yes, mine has a clock on it. I absolutely need it to check the time.

But in all seriousness, it's probably a good idea to have one in case you have some sort of unforeseeable emergency. I wouldn't say essential, but there wasn't an option for "It's probably a really good idea to have one." Immean how much would the cheapest working prepaid phone cost? $20 on ebay? and a prepaid calling card (assuming they still sell those?) would be $5-10 and would expire every 6 months. And a cellphone and calling card would certainly fit in any saddle bag.

I'm just sayin' for like $30 you could have pretty much the best tool for any emergency situation. ( Unless, of course, you get kidnapped by aliens who force a probe into your anus.) Hell, don't even give the number out. Also dialing 911 should work on out of contract phones so the prepaid card wouldn't even be necessary.

So yeh, for $30, why not? My tire levers/glue/patches/pump/multi tool altogether cost more...