[Athens]

Has any one ever switched to a landline and cancelled the cell phone. Going back wards to a simpler time?

I want to know how hard was the adjustment, do you find yourself happier not being reachable every minute of the day?

[SpaceMonkey]

Just because I have a cell phone on me, it doesn't mean that I'm reachable.

[nonhuman]

I've considered it, but never done it. I simply get far too much value from my cell phone (for example, as I work from home, the fact that I can tether to Verizon's 4G network with my HTC Thunderbolt means that I can literally work from almost anywhere).

Instead, I try and be more disciplined in only using my phone when it's actually reasonable to do so. I've gotten pretty good at it, and I think it's provided a pretty decent improvement to my quality of life. One of the things that I've done that's been really helpful and helped make disconnecting seem less arbitrary has been to integrate the shabbat (sabbath) idea into my daily life. While I'm hardly an observant Jew (what with being an atheist and all), connecting with my ethnic/cultural heritage has made it much easier to remember and follow through with disconnecting. The whole 'day of rest' idea really is pretty awesome, and the more I've bought into it, the more I think it's improved my life.

It's hardly an original idea though: Sabbath Manifesto

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

Just because I have a cell phone on me, it doesn't mean that I'm reachable.

I don't understand why this concept is so difficult to grasp.

Leave a voicemail or send an SMS if it's urgent; otherwise, my not getting the phone probably means I can't or don't want to.

[Shaddim]

I rarely answer my phone, landline (the ringer is always off) or cell, unless it's one of the 12 or so people that I'll speak with at any time of the day or night. You want to reach me? Send an email, text, or call my assistant. She'll decide if it's important enough to bug me.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Athens 

Has any one ever switched to a landline and cancelled the cell phone. Going back wards to a simpler time?

Never dumped the landline to start with. Cell phone lives in the car for emergency use only.

But in other areas... ...yes, the simple life is better.

[Thorzdad]

I rarely use my cellphone for voice. 99.9% of the time, I use it for texting with my kids and wife. I hate talking on the thing, anyway. Voice quality on cells is still far, far below landline quality. We still have the landline at home, since cell reception here can sometimes be hypothetical.

[Athens]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

I don't understand why this concept is so difficult to grasp.

Leave a voicemail or send an SMS if it's urgent; otherwise, my not getting the phone probably means I can't or don't want to.

Thats the problems with cell phones people expect you to be reachable. Why didn't you answer. Why didn't you call me back. Why didn't you reply. Why didn't respond on MSN, why didn't you email me back and blah blah blah.

Originally Posted by Doofy 

Never dumped the landline to start with. Cell phone lives in the car for emergency use only.

But in other areas... ...yes, the simple life is better.

Never started with one, I've been on mobile from the day I moved out. And with Unlimited Calling for only $35.00 a month and a good network with good quality and coverage never saw a point in a land line.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by Athens 

Thats the problems with cell phones people expect you to be reachable. Why didn't you answer. Why didn't you call me back. Why didn't you reply. Why didn't respond on MSN, why didn't you email me back and blah blah blah.

Tell them you turned your cell phone off and watch their head explode. I mean, what are they going to do? Stop calling you?

Obviously, phones for business use can be a different thing entirely, because you can't always set the expectations yourself.

[Face Ache]

This is the Face Ache Hotline...



Our operators are standing by.

I haven't had a mobile phone since 1999.

[The Final Dakar]

I bet you have amazing conversations. Not on that phone, but by people when they find out that's you're only phone.

[Face Ache]

There's a cordless in the kitchen. Dialling out on the red phone is a pain in the ass.

[Big Mac]

So what do you cellphone-less guys do when you need to make a call and you're not near your land-line? And you don't have family members who expect to be able to reach you while you're out? I go without phones and other electronics one day a week, but aside from that when I'm working and living life outside of walls I need a cell phone. Plus, smartphone email and other data access has become indispensable for my business needs.

[The Final Dakar]

I'm talking about the landline, not that phone specifically.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

So what do you cellphone-less guys do when you need to make a call and you're not near your land-line? And you don't have family members who expect to be able to reach you while you're out? I go without phones and other electronics one day a week, but aside from that when I'm working and living life outside of walls I need a cell phone. Plus, smartphone email and other data access has become indispensable for my business needs.

I'm surprised myself, but I've come to see mobiles as a way for people to hassle me. I can see their usefulness in emergencies, but what percentage of the time is that?

People increasingly look at you strangely these days when you tell them you don't have a mobile number.

[Big Mac]

More power to you. It's not something I would give up, but I can appreciate those who have the ability to do so. If you don't need it, no reason to keep it.

[Uncle Skeleton]

I changed from mobile to landline. The times when mobile is necessary is when you're waiting by the phone (with mobile you can go out and still get that important call). IMO this is only two circumstances: you're looking for a job or you're looking for a mate. That's when you have to go the extra mile, and any other time when you're actually expecting a call (not a surprise/emergency), voice-mail will do. I'm not in the market for either of those things. When I need a job next, I might have to go cellular again... we'll see. I never got into texting etc, so I don't miss it. I don't know if it would be different for texters. Sometimes people tell me they texted something to my number, and of course I never get it because my number isn't a mobile number.

In the mean time, I no longer forget to charge my phone, I have less clutter in my pockets, I have no digital leash, and I save tons of money (I use ooma for ~free).

I keep a prepaid phone active for traveling (airport pickups, etc), for $50/year with tmo2go. Most of the year it is powered off.

For calling when out, I don't usually need it, but I use those calling cards you buy in the grocery store, along with a pay phone or other land line. When land lines all go extinct finally, this might be a problem for me.

I have never wished for email outside, but sometimes I wish for wikipedia. This might lure me back to the land of batteries and signal bars some day, but not some day soon. I love not caring about batteries.

[The Final Dakar]

This isn't meant as any type of rebuttal to your post, but I can't recall the last time I saw a payphone.

[Athens]

Originally Posted by Face Ache 

I'm surprised myself, but I've come to see mobiles as a way for people to hassle me. I can see their usefulness in emergencies, but what percentage of the time is that?

People increasingly look at you strangely these days when you tell them you don't have a mobile number.

And I could leave a inactive cell phone in the car for 911 if need be. But thats exactly how I look at it. I've been going out more and more playing pool and bowling and honestly I couldn't care less if I had a phone with me when im out.

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

This isn't meant as any type of rebuttal to your post, but I can't recall the last time I saw a payphone.

Pay phones are becoming far and in between. Telus has removed a ton of them over the last few years alone. And the ones still up half are broken anyways.

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

Sometimes people tell me they texted something to my number, and of course I never get it because my number isn't a mobile number.

Our land lines now support text messages. If you get a SMS to your land line you get a ring and a recording you have a SMS press 1 to accept then it reads it out to you.


-------------------------

I just feel like I need to step back from technology. I've been thinking a lot about my childhood in the late 80's and just want to go back to something more simple.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

And you don't have family members who expect to be able to reach you while you're out?

It's a very interesting question. On one hand, if you agree to always take their call, it is a sign of respect that you value their instructions/requests. On the other hand, if they agree to let you be autonomous, it is a sign of trust that they know you will continue to represent their best interests without being nagged, and that both of you were courteous enough to plan ahead and say what needs to be said before leaving in the first place. There's also a certain aspect of willpower, and the decision to go without in the event that plans aren't flawless. This fits in with the minimalist concept of not wanting to carry the phone in the first place. It's certainly not for everyone, and natural micro-managers will never be comfortable living this way.

I look at it this way, if I do something for you that you need done, it's just a little less magical and meaningful if we have a digital tether connecting us the whole time so you can remind me to do it, as if I would blow you off the first chance I get.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

This isn't meant as any type of rebuttal to your post, but I can't recall the last time I saw a payphone.

In normal places in the US at least they're gone. You see them in some airports though. I can't remember the last time I not only used a payphone and it actually worked. I think prepaid burner phones you can get from convenience stores almost entirely replaced the need for them.

[The Final Dakar]

Airport makes a ton of sense. I'm curious if they're still tucked away in bars or outside malls and grocery stores or what have you.

[SpaceMonkey]

Related question: outside of airports, maybe, when's the last time you saw a pay phone that you wouldn't have been totally skeeved out from using?

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

This isn't meant as any type of rebuttal to your post, but I can't recall the last time I saw a payphone.

They're still out there. It's very easy to ignore them if you would never ever need one. I can't remember the last time I saw an ATM or vending machine, but that's just because I have no use for them so I never notice them.

[Uncle Skeleton]

I usually see pay phones at gas stations. In my neck of the woods, they're not gross. But that might not be true everywhere.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

They're still out there. It's very easy to ignore them if you would never ever need one. I can't remember the last time I saw an ATM or vending machine, but that's just because I have no use for them so I never notice them.

Don't believe that's the case here. I very rarely needed them in the past, and I refuse to use external ATMs since all those random ones you encounter (Bars, Malls, Casinos) have those insane fees, but I still notice them.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

So what do you cellphone-less guys do when you need to make a call and you're not near your land-line?

If I'm not within 100m of my base station, I'm out, and I don't need to make a call.

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

And you don't have family members who expect to be able to reach you while you're out?

Nah. My family members (well, the ones who'd want to call me anyways) all remember what it was like before mobiles were invented.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

Sometimes people tell me they texted something to my number, and of course I never get it because my number isn't a mobile number.

You don't have SMS on landlines there?
Over here, we can SMS any landline - if the handset is configured to receive, it'll come as text. If it isn't, an automated woman with a BBC voice will read it out to you.
Yes, people have been known to text their non-configured landline with "hello big boy wouldn't you like to dork my dangling dough bags, etc..".

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I'm always connected, night or day baby!

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

You don't have SMS on landlines there?
Over here, we can SMS any landline - if the handset is configured to receive, it'll come as text. If it isn't, an automated woman with a BBC voice will read it out to you.
Yes, people have been known to text their non-configured landline with "hello big boy wouldn't you like to dork my dangling dough bags, etc..".

I have a phone answering machine on my landline.

The SMS to landline service just starts blabbing as soon as *something* picks up the phone, so I usually get about four syllables of the tail-end of the message before the beep.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

I have a phone answering machine on my landline.

The SMS to landline service just starts blabbing as soon as *something* picks up the phone, so I usually get about four syllables of the tail-end of the message before the beep.

I'm technologically advanced and configured, so I receive the texts.

Wait. We didn't just find an area in which the UK surpasses Germany (excluding thuggery and general criminal behaviour, obviously), did we?

[Athens]

I went to the gas station to get some halls about 30 minutes ago and accidentally left my iphone behind on my desk. 1 I felt soooo naked with out it. Honestly I think I rather have my phone on me then my clothing (scary) second when I got back 4 text messages, untold number of facebook notifications, 3 missed calls, 1 voice mail, and 8 new emails in a span of 15 minutes ....

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I'm technologically advanced and configured, so I receive the texts.

Wait. We didn't just find an area in which the UK surpasses Germany (excluding thuggery and general criminal behaviour, obviously), did we?

Not sure.

I *receive* them. The damn things are just invariably cut off, 'cuz I'm never home.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by Athens 

when I got back 4 text messages, untold number of facebook notifications, 3 missed calls, 1 voice mail, and 8 new emails in a span of 15 minutes ....

How much of it was urgent enough that it had to be acted on straight away?

My 11y/o is desperate for an iPhone. He's 11 FFS! He has no-one to call.

Yet I'll bet if I got him an iPhone he'd suddenly be texting random bullshit like his life depended on it.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

You don't have SMS on landlines there?
Over here, we can SMS any landline - if the handset is configured to receive, it'll come as text. If it isn't, an automated woman with a BBC voice will read it out to you.
Yes, people have been known to text their non-configured landline with "hello big boy wouldn't you like to dork my dangling dough bags, etc..".

I don't think we have that

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Athens 

I went to the gas station to get some halls about 30 minutes ago and accidentally left my iphone behind on my desk. 1 I felt soooo naked with out it.

Stockholm syndrome?

when I got back 4 text messages, untold number of facebook notifications, 3 missed calls, 1 voice mail, and 8 new emails in a span of 15 minutes ....

And this made you feel:
[ ] excited
[ ] weary
[ ] loved
[ ] bored
[ ] whole
[ ] trapped
[ ] anxious

[Athens]

And this made you feel:

[ ] excited
[X] weary
[ ] loved
[ ] bored
[ ] whole
[X] trapped
[X] anxious

(Honestly I can't tell with you if you are joking around or not)

Originally Posted by Face Ache 

How much of it was urgent enough that it had to be acted on straight away?

My 11y/o is desperate for an iPhone. He's 11 FFS! He has no-one to call.

Yet I'll bet if I got him an iPhone he'd suddenly be texting random bullshit like his life depended on it.

None really

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Athens 

And this made you feel:

[ ] excited
[X] weary
[ ] loved
[ ] bored
[ ] whole
[X] trapped
[X] anxious

Then it makes one wonder why you make so much effort to enable those forms of communication.
Like Tyler Durden says, the things you own end up owning you. Data addiction is a choice, and you could choose not to feel like something's missing when you're not logged in. Just sayin.

Any time I recognize that I've grown to depend on a thing, I immediately try to find an alternative, and challenge myself to go without for a week. I'm stubborn like that. Sometimes I can't do it though

Or you know, you could embrace the beast and decide to feel excited, rewarded and proud of your relationship with your phone. Don't let the hipsters make you feel bad about yourself just for the sake of feeling bad.

(Honestly I can't tell with you if you are joking around or not)

I try to use the jokey emoticons when I joke

None really

The other side of the coin... use technology to fight technology (make your spam filter work better).

[ebuddy]

I have a landline around here somewhere, but couldn't tell you offhand where it is, the last time I used it, or what the ringer even sounds like. I use the number more than the phone.

I like texting the chatty folks, calling the loved ones, a little of both for the chatty loved ones, and playing angry birds on the throne. The good news is I was reading hair spray bottles before that. My brother and I have a running joke (no pun) about the odds of being on the can while calling one another. We laughed at how often this happens until we realized why the odds were so good.

I couldn't do without coffee so I ditched the fiber bars and until that takes, I've just been reminding myself not to call my brother.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Not sure.

I *receive* them. The damn things are just invariably cut off, 'cuz I'm never home.

You're missing it. I receive them as texts and read them on my landline handset. No cut off.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by Thorzdad 

I rarely use my cellphone for voice. 99.9% of the time, I use it for texting with my kids and wife. I hate talking on the thing, anyway. Voice quality on cells is still far, far below landline quality. We still have the landline at home, since cell reception here can sometimes be hypothetical.

This. I don't even have a voice plan on my iPhone, except for Skype and Google Voice. I keep a charged up pre-paid phone in my car for emergencies.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by Athens 

Thats the problems with cell phones people expect you to be reachable. Why didn't you answer. Why didn't you call me back. Why didn't you reply. Why didn't respond on MSN, why didn't you email me back and blah blah blah.

Even with email, I've trained people who correspond with me not to expect immediate answers/replies.

[andi*pandi]

I'm still wondering if we can ditch landline. I'm not tied to my phone like email... if I had a phone that did email I'd be in trouble. I frequently forget to charge my cell, check my cell, and I hope people have realized not to use my cell as a first line of contact. I tolerate texting only rarely, with those friends who don't have desktop computers and use their cell for everything.

I have computers and phones around me all day. I use my cell when I'm not at work or at home. This means the rare times I go shopping, travel, or go to a school/scout event. It's handy for those "do we need milk" moments so I can just call home and ask. I also like not worrying about long distance.

One thing the landline has going for it: A huge ol answering machine flashy light that says I have messages. I can just glance at the table and know if someone called... not have to dig around a purse and check.

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

One thing the landline has going for it: A huge ol answering machine flashy light that says I have messages. I can just glance at the table and know if someone called... not have to dig around a purse and check.

80% of the time my answering machine messages are just "click" (hangup), so it's not usually urgent enough to leave a message.

But any old SMS is deserving of an instant response, yeah?

I might downgrade my landline to telegrams - only the most determined will get through.

[andi*pandi]

The "Do Not Call" registry has worked wonders on our hangups/telemarketing. Very rare now. And I don't think our phone does SMS...

Let's rescue the USPS and go back to writing letters. Or send servants around to deliver messages and wait for replies. Pony express!

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

The "Do Not Call" registry has worked wonders on our hangups/telemarketing. Very rare now. And I don't think our phone does SMS...

Let's rescue the USPS and go back to writing letters. Or send servants around to deliver messages and wait for replies. Pony express!

Exhausted and bedraggled Pony Express rider staggers up to door and hands a note to the home owner.

The home owner opens the note:

"Wat u doin? lol."

[Eug]

I have both.

1) I need a hardwired landline for my alarm system. Technically I could go wireless but it wouldn't actually save me money. Actually, if I went wireless, I'd do it as a backup.
2) Long distance is a lot cheaper with a land line (or internet-based "land" line), as opposed to my cell.

BTW, I run my VDSL2+ (25 down 7 up) through my land line too. My internet provider would actually charge me extra $ per month if it were a dry loop with no land line telephone, so it justifies having the land line even more.

P.S. I don't have Facebook or Twitter accounts, and I've turned off iMessaging. I just do texts and email, and both don't require immediate response, because nobody knows if I'm "online" or not.

[subego]

At the least, I need a landline because I have an AT&T iPhone, which just flat-out sucks as a phone. It's garbage.

As a mobile Internet device though, I can't be without it. It's my go-to computer.

I'm using it right now while I smoke a cig in the garage.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

You're missing it. I receive them as texts and read them on my landline handset. No cut off.

Ah, I see.

Not sure. I assume this should be possible (probably on Telekom and an appropriate handset), but since I'm paying €30 for 100/10 DSL incl. the landline I hardly ever use, I'm not about to switch.

[subego]

100/10 DSL?

Do you live, like, inside an exchange?