Do you still have a "land line" telephone?

[Pangloss]

According to the article below, 20% of US households now have only cell phones and no "land line". The rate of disconnection has apparently increased, possibly spurred by household cost-cutting reflecting the current economic crisis.

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hy364yHuEwLK2alU6lD7DOoYhWtgD98122LO1

 

I was just curious how many folks here have cut their land lines, or perhaps never had them in the first place.

[Royston]

I voted other because, although we've discussed getting rid of our landline, the customer service, <cough> Virgin <cough> is so horrendous, that we fear we may have our broadband downgraded or some other hiccup may occur if we attempt to get rid of our landline. Plus we're charged for contacting customer service, at one time my housemate was on the phone for nearly an hour and a half !

 

The only people we contact (landline to landline) I think, are our close family. It is far cheaper that way, but more often than not, we will phone mobiles (cell phones) from the landline, if we're low on credit (so it's just laziness) and end up with a reasonably hefty bill at the end of the month.

 

The main motivation for cutting the landline, was that (after asking) we still don't get itemized bills, and we're rubbish at keeping a record of who we phoned, and for how long et.c So, we just wanted to ditch it. IIRC, we did try to get disconnected, but alas, it's still connected, and tempting us to use it, rather than go to the shop and top up a mobile. (none of us are on contracts.)

[swansont]

Land line and still have a corded phone, because that works when the power goes out.

[iNow]

So do cell phones which have their own power source via the battery.

... granted, they won't work indefinitely... I'm just sayin'.

 

 

I've not had a land line for several years... close to a decade, IINM.

[Sisyphus]

Never had one. Don't see the point. Neither, as far as I know, does anyone else I know close to my age. We call people, not locations.

[swansont]

So do cell phones which have their own power source via the battery.

... granted, they won't work indefinitely... I'm just sayin'.

 

 

I've not had a land line for several years... close to a decade, IINM.

 

The corded phone is because I have a land line, not why I have a land line. I just hate cell phones (and have a mild dislike of phones in general), and only have one for emergencies because pay phones have pretty much gone away.

[GutZ]

I dont have a cell phone...I use a land line. I will never get a cell phone unless work tell me I need one.

 

People do not need to reach me 24/7. I am not that important...and even if I was ...I still don't want to be reached 24/7

[Mr Skeptic]

I still have a landline, and need it for DSL. For a while, I experimented with VOIP telephones (free trial), but quality was terrible if someone was using the net. Might try it again if I upgrade from the minimum bandwidth DSL. For now, I use VOIP only to talk computer to computer (that's free).

[JohnB]

So do cell phones which have their own power source via the battery.

Not when the power to the towers goes out.

 

Found out the hard way on that one.

[ParanoiA]

Never had one. Don't see the point. Neither, as far as I know, does anyone else I know close to my age. We call people, not locations.

 

The main advantage of keeping a land line is 911 service. On a land line 911 call your address information is stored in an ALI database, and thus your precise location is immediatley available, even if you get cut-off just after connection.

 

For cell phones, they are at different phases of deployment and phase 0 and 1 do not provide any location information, but merely a tower face - a rough estimate of where you are. Phase II provides latitude and longitude, but depending on the technology used by the answering PSAP, it may or may not quickly translate to precision addressing very quickly.

 

Maybe in a few more years we can better count on the counties to have technologically current PSAPs funded so it can be a bit more standardized. I'm not sure if there's any directive by the FCC for this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was.

 

So, for me, I'm sticking with my land line until I can count on the cell network to be just as reliable and speedy for emergency services. You would be surprised how many 911 calls are too brief or too chaotic for someone to verbally give out where they are.

[Mokele]

I've got a landline because it's *way* cheaper to pay for the landline and get their plan for international calls than to pay the exorbitant rate of cell phones for international calls.

[CharonY]

I do not have a land line but I do not use a cell phone either. If I need to make private calls I usually use skype (also for international calls). Quality is somewhat annoying but given the few calls I make a land line does not cut it for me. And I heartily dislike cell phones. I have one around for emergencies, but never really used it so far.

[Pangloss]

Not when the power to the towers goes out.

 

Found out the hard way on that one.

 

Ours all have battery backup. They only last about 12 hours, but it's more than enough for most routine situations. Our gas stations are actually required by law to have generator capability (this being a hurricane-prone region, of course), and there was talk about extending that law to cell phone towers, but I don't think anything ever came of it.

 

(Perhaps because generators have to be refueled -- something a gas station doesn't really have to worry about.)

[swansont]

Ours all have battery backup. They only last about 12 hours, but it's more than enough for most routine situations. Our gas stations are actually required by law to have generator capability (this being a hurricane-prone region, of course), and there was talk about extending that law to cell phone towers, but I don't think anything ever came of it.

 

(Perhaps because generators have to be refueled -- something a gas station doesn't really have to worry about.)

 

I'd imagine that the ability to pump gas for evacuation takes priority anyway.

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Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

People do not need to reach me 24/7. I am not that important...and even if I was ...I still don't want to be reached 24/7

 

That's why I would not want a work cell phone, and don't give out my number. The cell phone I have is only turned on when I travel.

 

When my answering machine broke down I did not replace it (95% of the messages were spammy, even though I'm on the do not call registry. Polls, charity and political messages.). If anyone I know wants to leave a message, they can email me.

[Pangloss]

I'd imagine that the ability to pump gas for evacuation takes priority anyway.

 

I think it's actually more because of the ubiquitous presence of small, portable generators in nearly every home. They only hold enough gas to get you through a day or so, and then you run out and need more. It makes a funny kind of sense from an emergency planning perspective as well, keeping people off the streets, fed (refrigerator running), and able to watch the TV.

 

Of course, invariably every time we have a hurricane we get a story a day or two later about an entire family, including visiting relatives and neighbors, wiped out overnight by CO poisoning due to a generator left too close to a window or actually being brought indoors, or perhaps placing them right next to the AC vent in the garage.

Edited May 7, 2009 by Pangloss

[bascule]

I had a land line growing up, but voted for "never had one" personally as I've always had a mobile phone for myself after leaving my parents' house.

[GutZ]

I

 

That's why I would not want a work cell phone, and don't give out my number. The cell phone I have is only turned on when I travel.

 

When my answering machine broke down I did not replace it (95% of the messages were spammy, even though I'm on the do not call registry. Polls, charity and political messages.). If anyone I know wants to leave a message, they can email me.

 

It's not only that, now people can leave text messages and crap. I thought I was odd one out. Thank God there are more of you. At the age of 25 though like I am slightly overwhelmed. Everyone has one of the damn things. You even have bluetooth. For a 100$ (good one) I can look like I am talking to myself! I mean I can see the convenience, It's just not me.

[Pangloss]

The only problem I'm running into in my plan to remove the land line is that it might force me to give my cell phone number to creditors who are service providers, like the cable company, the power company, etc. I really don't want to get calls from these people for any reason whatsoever, and I worry that they'll sell my number to advertisers.

[swansont]

It's not only that, now people can leave text messages and crap. I thought I was odd one out. Thank God there are more of you. At the age of 25 though like I am slightly overwhelmed. Everyone has one of the damn things. You even have bluetooth. For a 100$ (good one) I can look like I am talking to myself! I mean I can see the convenience, It's just not me.

 

At 25, you're near the point where cellphones have been readily available for most or all of your teen+adult life. When I was your age, as part of the preceding generation, there were car phones if you were really well-to-do, that were about the size of shoe and not particularly portable. That's probably why they are more ubiquitous with the under-30ish crowd.

 

It's also a heck of a lot cheaper to get your teenage their own phone number than it used to be with land lines.

[insane_alien]

theres a land line in my house. still got a rotary dial telephone too. its better this way. the less 'new fangled' stuff i need to teach my parents the better.

[GutZ]

lol my Mother still randomly copies shortcuts lol....it's hilarious fixing up her computer.

[khelben1979]

I voted: yes since I have ADSL internet.

 

There have been some discussions in this thread about mobile phones and I personally dislikes all phones in general, but there are "some" exceptions regarding cell phones.

 

I don't own a cellphone at the present which is working or in use. It's a cost I choose to live without. I'll probably get a new Nokia in the future (maybe) if they manage to produce a good phone that I like and that I'm in situation where I can afford it.

[smartlipo]

Hello well this will be the helpful link regarding landline phones in USA

 

http://news.google.co.in/news?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=landline+in+US&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=o1wJSpKqK4yMkAW256WeCw&sa=X&oi=news_group&ct=title&resnum=4

Go through the link and let me know ..

[The Bear's Key]

Do you still have a "land line"

 

Well how else is one going to escape the Matrix?