This article got me REALLY thinking. On a personal level, I miss the landline. I really do. In this hyperconnected world, the one thing I miss is the landline.
I leave my cellphone in the living room & my bedroom is a tech-free zone. If there was a TRUE emergency in the middle of the night & someone needed to reach me, they wouldn’t be able to.
How do you guys feel about landline phones?
How many of you still use a landline?
More importantly, as technology advances, how do we decide which technologies to keep and which to discard? Is it purely based on utility, or are there other factors involved?
These days, I try to be more intentional with my decisions as to which technologies to keep and which to discard.
I love my landline phones as well as my landline-connected printer/scanner/fax machine. The location of each in my home has a purpose that is specific to that location.
This post got me curious about how many people still have landline telephones? No one I know has one anymore. According to some stats I found on the internet, barely 25% of Americans still have a landline phone.
Unfortunately, the building where I live does not offer a landline option. Having one would be a game-changer, as it would allow me to turn off my phone as soon as I enter home.
I live in a new building & after I read your post, I went & looked if there are options in our building for landline phones & guess what! NO
Just 11 years ago, a Polish newspaper ran an article comparing the costs of cell phone costs vs landline costs:
The consensus was that even though landline phones are cheaper for phone calls, people still prefer cell phones. Currently, according to the Polish Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) only 10.1% of the Polish population has a landline phone. That’s less than in the US, according to what @kanecitzen posted.
Landlines are nowadays marginal in Finland. There may be some tens of thousands left.
But then there are cell phones with a desk phone form factor. I guess the main use for one is calling your own misplaced mobile phone, though. Or maybe contacting teenagers sleeping at home with their phones switched off.
When I’m at home, I only use my landline phone. And my PC is also hard-wired and does not use WLAN.
However, there is one hitch. There are still landline connections installed almost everywhere, but telekom no longer offers proper landline connections; instead, you need an internet connection and then have to connect the landline phone to the router and use it via voice over IP. That may be all well and good, you might think, but it has a decisive disadvantage. If the power and/or the internet fails, that’s it for telephony. With the old landline connections, you could also make calls with a wired telephone in this way. No electricity was needed. So fixed network yes, but somehow not really any more. As I said, I still use it and have now connected my retro telephone with diallers to my Fritzbox. I don’t have any costs because the telephone flat rate is included with the internet connection.
U.S.-based providers of Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), which they deliver over copper pairs, rely on Central Offices (COs) and Remote Terminals (RTs) to serve POTS telephone lines. RT “huts” have batteries and diesel generators within them to electrically power those POTS lines when there is an electrical outage. Those who appreciate these facts often insist on keeping their copper-pair-based POTS lines, as they know that they can make telephone calls even in electrical outages and when cellphone-serving towers are down.
There is no landline connection to the cabin where I live, it is in semi rainforest area which is surround by trees, which filter out the wireless frequencies so mobile reception is sketchy.
I LOVE not being contactable. Not having a landline and not being contactable at times is a joy to me because it provides me with the space I need AWAY from people. It’s only a problem for other people who want something from me - part of this helps them to learn patience - or about their own impatience.
In addition to this I often don’t receive voice mails for up to a month after they’re been left, and sometimes don’t receive voice mail messages at all. I don’t mind this either.
I’ve come to understand that communications which comes through to me do so because they are required - those which don’t, are not required.
I love turning off my Pure for long periods of time and knowing I won’t be inturrupted by unwanted human contact.
@galtions Looks like you value serenity, peace of mind & tranquility A LOT, which I wholeheartedly support & champion.
There was an interesting discussion on the Mudita Forum a while back about how the fact that we live in this word, where we are ALWAYS connected, people tend to feel entitled to SOMEONE’S TIME and EXPECT an IMMEDIATE response whenever they reach out to them.
I’m jumping back on this thread because I just read another article lamenting the loss of the landline.
The article “How the Loss of the Landline Is Changing Family Life” by Julia Cho in The Atlantic explores how the disappearance of landlines has transformed family dynamics.
It was once a central hub of household communication, created a shared social space where family members connected spontaneously. It taught children conversational skills and patience, as they often had to interact with various callers, including parents’ friends and telemarketers.
The shift to cellphones made communication more private and individualistic. Cellphones allow users to bypass shared family interactions, resulting in family members living in “techno-cocoons.”
Super interesting read. I recommend it.
I’m curious if you guys strive to preserve the communal spirit by designating certain times or spaces as device-free.
I miss the landline phone recently because it represented to me, much more simple technology. These days with internet and voice wifi etc. it’s a whirlwind of confusion in my mind. When something went wrong with the landline it was either the line was out or the phone was out. Now it’s a very difficult task to diagnose the source of any problem with mobile phone and internet.
Also when tech changes, it presents a challenge to me which, frankly, I am exhausted with so very quickly.
Device free never looked so appealing - but in society where certain organisations and governmental bodies force interaction with them through internet and phone, is it really possible? Can we separate from devices and internet without becoming hermits in caves on the sides of mountains?
Rewilding tribes and direct, face to face communication - now that is VERY appealing to me - no phone line required
