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Posted: Oct 30 2008 12:07 pm

Do people still use house phones anymore?

When mine rings, I just ignore it, because there's a 95% chance it's a telemarketeer and anyone who really needed to reach me would try my cellphone.

I forsee the phone companies going out of business within the next 25 years, or incorporating other communications services to keep themselves relevant.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

That's how it is for most people I think. Hell, most young people like me don't even own land lines, and only have cellphones. When I moved to my second apartment and when I bought my townhouse last May, I never bothered having a phone line connected. Why pay $100 for something I'll rarely use, when I can just spend $50/month on my cell.

Syd Lexia wrote:

I forsee the phone companies going out of business within the next 25 years, or incorporating other communications services to keep themselves relevant.

That's why AT&T bought Cingular.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 12:19 pm

I suppose I might get a land line if I lived in an area that had crappy reception, but as for right now my cellphone is all I need.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 12:22 pm

Cattivo wrote:

That's why AT&T bought Cingular.

As I recall, it was the other was around. There was like a two year period there were AT&T technically didn't exist. Then Cingular realized that the AT&T name was more valuable than theirs and changed over to AT&T.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 12:24 pm

The only things I know landlines are still used for are:

- Cable/Satellite Box interaction (for ordering PPVs without calling and whatnot)
- At Home Telephony-related Jobs(I'm applying to one now and it's a necessity to have a landline)
- DSL
- The few home phones that are left

Once they lock down on making cell phones ultimately reliable, landlines will be looked upon as dial-up is now. Everything from communication to food is about being "on the go" nowadays, but it's amazing how little still gets done.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 12:32 pm

Syd has it correct. I worked for At&t wireless when Cingular bought them. What happened in 2001 At&t wireless became a seperate company from At&t landline. They were only leasing the name. Cingular then had their purchase complete Nov 15 2004. Cingular was a joint venture LLC or Limited Liability Corporation, between Bellsouth and SBC Global. SBC owned 60%, Bellsouth 40%. Then months later, SBC bought At&t, and eventually changed their name because theirs was shit in the marketplace. Now then, in 2006 the New At&t (SBC) bought Bellsouth. It was at this point, that they made the decision to change Cingular to At&t. Not only because of branding and name recognition, but also because then they could unify their marketing strategy, as well as fool some of the general public into thinking At&t wireless was back, even though the company as it was once known was not.

Interesting side note, some of the companies that At&t wireless bought up back in the day to grow (I.E. Cellular One), were then divested after the Cingular buy out, to avoid anti-trust laws. A similar thing is going on right now with Verizon, who is divesting several markets, so that they can complete the purchase of Altell.

Title: Title: Title: Title Joined: Sep 18 2008 Posts: 258

They are still very valuable to businesses both large and small. For home use, however, I agree that they are becoming less and less needed.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 12:57 pm

If I hear a "regular" ringtone at a house, I usually assume it's coming from a television or a computer. One of my roommates does have a "regular" ringtone set on his phone though. I've noticed less and less payphones as well, which has actually hurt me in a few situations.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Ah, ok. When my bill started saying AT&T instead of Cingular, I just assumed what had happened, as I had remembered something about some sort of takeover.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 01:35 pm

I've never had a cellphone. In fact, my family got rid of our landline phone around when I was in 2nd grade, and we only just got one again when we moved to Wisconsin (about 3 years ago) to help with the moving process. Sometimes I think having a cellphone would be good, but I only really call my two friends and I'm not away from home that often.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

I live in the mountains, so a cellphone here is sort of pointless "Hey man I'll call you back when I pass over this mountain, or over the tree's"

My land line is my only phone, and I have no reason for a cellphone, other than the Tracfone I bought for emergencies like If I break down on the interstate or something.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 03:08 pm

I still have a land line phone, so I can log out of The Matrix.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 03:36 pm

I don't even have a house line no more. Me and my whole family is wireless, but I don't even really use my phone that much for calling... Most of the time I'm on AIM or on the net.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

I have VoIP.

The savings I get on my cable/internet bill by bundling telephone brings the cost to around $20/month.

I have unlimited long distance on it.

Between my wife and I, we save a lot of money by using that phone rather than racking up minutes on cell phones.

Plus, cell phone reception is crap, even on the best phones. If you are the type of person who would listen to an MP3 over a CD because it is convenient, then you are fine with a cell phone. If you need to have full quality when listening... a standard phone is key.

Oh, VoIP vs Standard phone line... VoIP sounds a lot better.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 06:21 pm

My wife and I spent 2 years with nothing but cell phones. Just recently, when I was paying my Comcast bill, the Customer Service Rep told me that I could save about $20 a month by switching to their "Triple Play Package" which included phone. So, I said sure, and now I have a cordless phone on the wall that doesn't really do anything, except for the rare occasion I need to make a call when I am home in the mornings, so I don't use minutes on my cell.

Posted: Oct 30 2008 09:59 pm

I'm basically the only person I know who doesn't have a cell phone. It's REALLY great whenever I need to call someone and I can't because I have dial-up and my stepdad is looking up disgusting porn.

Posted: Oct 31 2008 12:35 am

I still have VOIP again with my triple play. I use it when I work out of my home office, or have to call a candidate at night.

Posted: Oct 31 2008 02:53 am

most local phone companies 'bundle' their packages to include a landline. and it actually does save some money vs standalone DSL or high speed. nothing too great in terms of savings, but over the long run it does help some.

and from what i've experienced, VoiP vs regular landline = same in quality.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Cam-win wrote:

I'm basically the only person I know who doesn't have a cell phone. It's REALLY great whenever I need to call someone and I can't because I have dial-up and my stepdad is looking up disgusting porn.

I just called the Department of Social Services.

Posted: Oct 31 2008 11:16 am

I have a landline because of a phone/cable/internet bundle as well, and I think it's good to have a landline. I also think it's good to have an old school, corded phone in case you need to use your landline and the power goes out. Now everyone has cell phones so it's less of an issue, but when I was growing up we would use the phone all the time during blackouts.

I also prefer gas stove tops to electrical, that way if you have a match or lighter you can still cook food if the power goes out. And yes, when I lived with my parents that happened on multiple occasions.

Posted: Oct 31 2008 11:27 am

I like the gas stove idea. I don't have that, but it was one of my big selling points on when I bought my propane grill. Also, if you cell phone is fucked up, you gotta call the company on another phone, and I don't know about you, but I don't have more then one cell account.

Joined: Aug 13 2008 Location: Watertown, NY Posts: 131

Actually, Jeebus, I don't think you can get service from a cable-based phone line in a power outage.

In any case, I refuse to use my cell phone. If I'm at home, call me at home. If I don't answer, wait until I get home and call me then.

Posted: Oct 31 2008 05:26 pm

Me and my room mates only use cell phones and have not had a LAN line in the last three years.

I find LAN lines cumbersome, however they are neccessary for alot of home security systems. We got hassled by our landlord several times for not paying for a LAN line, therefore our security system is rather useless.

However that is what our locks are for.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

mjl1783 wrote:

Actually, Jeebus, I don't think you can get service from a cable-based phone line in a power outage.

In any case, I refuse to use my cell phone. If I'm at home, call me at home. If I don't answer, wait until I get home and call me then.

Yes you can.

Good cable companies offer cable modems that have batteries in them.

They last for 2 days with average talk time if there is no power.

If you are a worrier, you can put in two batteries.

Posted: Nov 01 2008 10:46 am

mjl1783 wrote:

Actually, Jeebus, I don't think you can get service from a cable-based phone line in a power outage.

In any case, I refuse to use my cell phone. If I'm at home, call me at home. If I don't answer, wait until I get home and call me then.

GP already answered this, but without going into technical talk I can say that yes you definitely can, because I've done it.