[wallinbl]

I've been wondering for a while now why I still have my home phone. I have a cell phone and so does my wife. What am I really getting out of having the home phone?

[nonhuman]

I haven't had a home phone for a little over a year now. And the only reason I had one for the two years before that was because they wouldn't give us a DSL line without one. The only reason I had one for the four years before that was because I was in school and they provided them.

[peeb]

Yes. I don't have a cell phone though.

[Dakarʒ]

Yep. I use it for 'personal business' number leaving my cell for just leisure.

[Laminar]

Nope. My two roommate and I all have cell phones. I had a phone in my dorm room but the only time we used it is when people called us for political surveys and crap.

[MacosNerd]

Yup,

quality of the call is still much better on a land line then that of a cell phone. I live in a major metropolitan area and cell phone signal is good, but the sound quality is OK at best, piss poor at worst.. I've tried sprint, cingular/at&t and verizon. Nothing so far beats the quality of the land line.

[design219]

Yes, but only because it is required for my DSL. If I had a viable alternative for high speed Internet, I would drop it quick.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by design219 

Yes, but only because it is required for my DSL. If I had a viable alternative for high speed Internet, I would drop it quick.

Who provides your DSL? Verizon here in the Boston area let me put in a 'dry loop' so I just have DSL service and don't have to pay for a phone line.

[sek929]

Wha? Boston rules then, because even in the south cost of mass I'd have to get the 24.95 phone line in order to get DSL.

[Rumor]

I don't anymore, but I did until I recently moved. The only reason I had one was because it was required for DSL. I had the cheapest landline possible and the taxes were almost as much as the line itself.

[Dakarʒ]

I second sek, I have to have a phone line to acquire DSL.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Wha? Boston rules then, because even in the south cost of mass I'd have to get the 24.95 phone line in order to get DSL.

I think it helps if you know what to ask for and if you can convince them that it's the only way they're going to get your business. Case in point: not 10 minutes ago I had a $300 plumbing job done for $73.

[Atheist]

Haven't had a home phone for several years. We a cordless Skype Phone for calling friends and family back in the States and Trinidad and cell phones for local/emergency.

[sek929]

We called Verizon first when we moved in.

They wanted us to get the 24.95 land line in BEFORE they could let us know IF we could get DSL service.

Needless to say the Comcast installation happened the next day. I'm wicked interested in FIOS though. Verizon has been going buck-wild putting up fiber optic cables in this area and if it's only a couple of bucks extra a month per roomate I would certainly go for it.

If they (again) require a damn land line, or worse, purchasing the whole $99 package then I guess they won't be getting my money.

[peeb]

In my area you can't get internet without either cable or a phone line.

[Railroader]

Yes.

But it is provided by my employer. I don't pay for it.

[Uncle Skeleton]

This month I'm switching back to land line from cell phones. I'm tired of being available to everyone all the time. They can talk to my 80's era ditigal answering machine from now on.

[Oisín]

I do, yes, for two reasons:

1. It’s cheaper (.12 DKK per minute for landline outgoing calls, .69 DKK per minute for mobile outgoing calls, corresponding to 2.2¢ and 12.9¢, respectively, in Americano moneyses) and signal is better. I live inside what constitutes the larger metropolitan area of Copenhagen, but reception absolutely sucks on my mobile here in the house, don’t know why. It’s fine outside, two metres ahead of me.

2. I need a push-button phone (as opposed to a dial-wheel phone or whatever the older kind are properly called) to be able to open the main door to the building when people ring the bell.


I don’t actually have any credit on the phone at the moment, but I do have the phone.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

This month I'm switching back to land line from cell phones. I'm tired of being available to everyone all the time. They can talk to my 80's era ditigal answering machine from now on.

Your logic eludes me. You can't let your calls go to voice mail if you own a cell phone?

[turtle777]

Yes, but only VoIP.

$ 199 / 2 years for unlimited calling in US and Canada.

-t

[peeb]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

Your logic eludes me. You can't let your calls go to voice mail if you own a cell phone?

No, I get it - it's horrible being available all the time. Even if you can switch off in theory, in practice you don't.

[Doofy]

Yep, have to have one to get ADSL.

However, I'd have one anyways even without ADSL, since I hate cell phones with a passion (my cell is only ever used rarely... ...maybe two 30-second calls in the last year). Landline phone does SMS, so no problem there.

[jokell82]

Nope, and I don't plan on ever having one again.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

Your logic eludes me. You can't let your calls go to voice mail if you own a cell phone?

There’s a big difference (one that’s been quite thoroughly researched and described in dozens of articles and papers in the past ten years) between having a cell phone that you turn off/don’t answer and having a landline phone.

A cell phone comes with the expectation that you’re available, which means people will actually often get annoyed or start blaming you for not picking up. A landline usually doesn’t have this ‘stigma’ attached to it, meaning that if you don’t pick up, people are more likely to just accept it and wait a couple of hours till they try again.

Psychologically, there’s a bit difference.

[mitchell_pgh]

I'm in DC, and RCN will give you JUST a cable modem for $14.99 a month. I don't have/want cable TV or a land line. I see people spending $99 for Cable, Internet and Phone and wonder... why?

I don't watch $1000 worth of TV in a year that isn't NBC/CBS/ABC... and I never use all my minutes on my cell phone. Never.

[design219]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

I'm in DC, and RCN will give you JUST a cable modem for $14.99 a month.

Crap, you're lucky.

But you still can't vote in Congress.

[mitchell_pgh]

The psychology of cell phones is changing. I'm a polite person and will tell the person that left a voicemail "sorry, I was talking to someone when you called" [or any other legitimate reason like I was having lunch/dinner, was working on a project, etc. etc.]

I've never had a single person get upset. If they do, that's their problem, not mine.

[Mastrap]

We're just about to get rid of the one in Toronto - nobody ever uses it. The one in our summer home in the country we'll keep. Cell reception is ok out there but I don't want to be cut off during a blizzard in winter.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

There’s a big difference (one that’s been quite thoroughly researched and described in dozens of articles and papers in the past ten years) between having a cell phone that you turn off/don’t answer and having a landline phone.

A cell phone comes with the expectation that you’re available, which means people will actually often get annoyed or start blaming you for not picking up. A landline usually doesn’t have this ‘stigma’ attached to it, meaning that if you don’t pick up, people are more likely to just accept it and wait a couple of hours till they try again.

Psychologically, there’s a bit difference.

I can appreciate the implied difference between the two. However, I think it's silly to let someone else's expectations control your behavior. A mobile phone is a convenience. If someone is annoyed with you for not always picking up a call, that's they're problem.... not yours. I routinely screen my calls and return the calls on my time. If someone has an urgent need, they will leave a message. We all managed to get by years ago before we had instant access to each other, no reason why we still can't do so.

Edit: Maybe age has something to do with it. I'm well into my 40's and wasn't weaned on instant access via handheld electronic devices thus I don't feel the necessity to accommodate myself to others in that way. Just because I have a phone doesn't mean I have to answer it. I afford others the same courtesy. They can gladly allow the call to go to voice mail and I'll leave a message. People need to lighten up. Then again, maybe it's the fact that I live in the Caribbean where EVERYTHING is on island time.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by design219 

Crap, you're lucky.

But you still can't vote in Congress.

We can't have handguns either... and there are plenty of dots near where I live.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Chomicides.jpg

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

I can appreciate the implied difference between the two. However, I think it's silly to let someone else's expectations control your behavior. A mobile phone is a convenience. If someone is annoyed with you for not always picking up a call, that's they're problem.... not yours. I routinely screen my calls and return the calls on my time. If someone has an urgent need, they will leave a message. We all managed to get by years ago before we had instant access to each other, no reason why we still can't do so.

Edit: Maybe age has something to do with it. I'm well into my 40's and wasn't weaned on instant access via handheld electronic devices thus I don't feel the necessity to accommodate myself to others in that way. Just because I have a phone doesn't mean I have to answer it. I afford others the same courtesy. They can gladly allow the call to go to voice mail and I'll leave a message. People need to lighten up. Then again, maybe it's the fact that I live in the Caribbean where EVERYTHING is on island time.

It may be silly, but it’s the reality for a lot of people (I fear I’m beginning to become one of them). Always checking to see—“was that my cell phone?”. Always answering people’s calls starting out with, “Sorry, I didn’t hear the phone” or, “Sorry, I was in class” or whatever. It’s an extra little layer of stress to many.

Edit: Your edit just showed up when I posted. Heh. I think you’re right: there’s an age gap here, as well, and island time accounts for a lot.

[Judge_Fire]

No landline anymore for about 12 years now.

At around that time GSM coverage in Finland got so extensive (flawless, really), from subway cars to remote far-northern Lapland hills, that it simply became convenient to drop the extra line. Prices started dropping rapidly back then, too.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

I can appreciate the implied difference between the two. However, I think it's silly to let someone else's expectations control your behavior.

And for the most part I don't. But it's also silly to pay for 2 cell lines when we're trying to treat them like 1 land line anyway, not to mention the hassle of keeping them charged. Also I get a certain nostalgic buzz out of not feeling like a hypocrite when I complain about the cell phone culture. Some aspects of ludditism are just terribly intoxicating.

I'm getting a tracfone for just in cases, but mostly for going motorcycling. It's a $20 buy-in and that's not supposed to expire for 10 months, so still saving money over 1 month of cell service. And I won't be giving out the number for it.

[OldManMac]

I haven't had a land line for over six years.

[KeriVit]

Yup, DSL. Plus what if there is a hurricane? Which goes first cell or land line, just wondering.

[ghostdawg]

I still have a house phone and recently got DSL internet connection, so I guess I'll have it a bit longer.

[peeb]

Land-lines are incredibly robust compared to cells.

[macroy]

Originally Posted by sek929 

..... I'm wicked interested in FIOS though. Verizon has been going buck-wild putting up fiber optic cables in this area and if it's only a couple of bucks extra a month per roomate I would certainly go for it.

If they (again) require a damn land line, or worse, purchasing the whole $99 package then I guess they won't be getting my money.

No landline required. I've got FiOS Internet and TV when I first moved in.. no land line. I then went to sunrocket.... obviously, I'm not there anymore. I have Voicewing with Verizon... $20 a month for 500 minutes.. of which I'll never use more than 1/2. So I have a landline because its convenient. Also, my employer pays for my cell phone.. so if things go bad... I'll still have a phone.

[mduell]

Never had one.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

I haven't had a land line for over six years.

I am the same.

My DSL connection here doesn't require me to install or pay for a separate land line.

[- - e r i k - -]

I have not had a home phone for seven years.

I'm forced to pay for a land line for my ADSL2+, but no phone connected to it.

When you call someone, do you call a house or a person?

[Randman]

Haven't had a landline in like 6 years. Don't miss it either.

[Eriamjh]

Yes, but it's voip. $12.50 a month ($150 for the first year). Work pays for my cell so I can't depend on it always being there.

[the_glassman]

Originally Posted by Andy8 

My DSL connection here doesn't require me to install or pay for a separate land line.

And that's the way it should be. I think requiring people to have a landline when it isn't required to use DSL service should be against the law.

I haven't had a landline in many years, but may have to get one in my new location out the middle of east bumble because my choices are DSL with a company that requires a landline or satellite which wouldn't work for gaming or VoIP. I've used Skype for years and Dialpad before that.

[Gankdawg]

Yes, still have a land line. Cell phone coverage is spotty at best where I live and having the land line gives me a good feeling if I need to call 911.

[ghporter]

I have a landline-on purpose. Having a separate phone number that's listed in the directory is useful for a number of things (I've actually had an employer check to see that I was listed in the phone book before calling me back for an interview-said it was to establish that I really did have a residence here...). But for the most part, it helps me keep "being accessible" contained. Now if I could just get my son to call the house phone instead of my cell...

[scottiB]

Nope. My wife and I have been cell-only since 2003.

[Cold Warrior]

I have a landline. Partly AT&T requires it for DSL service in my area. Another reason is my wife calls her family all the time, and it'd burn up and go over our cell minutes by more than the landline costs per month. My home alarm also uses it. Finally, I like having a reliable communications backup solution, and the call quality: if it's an important business/work call, I'll use a landline if I have a choice (even from hotels, where I'll call out using a calling card).

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

the time, and it'd burn up and go over our cell minutes by more than the landline costs per month.)

This might be of interest to you: JAJAH - web-activated telephony

[ort888]

I haven't had a home phone in about 7 years.