Is 35 cents for call really that expensive?

No, but the daily 4 hour long long-distance calls to the other side of the world are. I know of more than one person who've had $1000+ phone bills in a month -- none of them hackers, none of them calling pay-per-yank type services...

Or is it just the neato factor of it?

That too. And the bit about putting one over on the Big Corporation gives sem people a thrill, too. Then there's the ego trip that gets some people -- you say I can't, I say I can and will or die trying.