Kevin's Watch

Cell only for over six months. No problems.

When I moved out of my mom's place I chose not to get a land line. Five years and three moves later, I still don't have one. Never will, probably. Everything that needs doing, CAN be done with cell.

I think more and more people in my generation are doing the same thing as well, moving out and not getting a land line. That's just the impression I get, beings that none of my friends have a land line.

I'm going to do a quick survey on myspace, see if I'm right...

Toss the line, Cail. You're just wasting money

Okay. . . here's the rundown for me.

Five years ago (has it been that long?) when my roommates (only one now) and I got an apartment, only one had a cell. We decided to get a landline, but no long distance (used ubercheap calling cards). At that time we had cable tv, and dialup for the computers.

A year and a half ago my remaining roommate bought a house (I pay rent). We decided to keep the landline as my roommate is a Luddite and refuses to get a cell phone. Still no long distance. I've had a cell for over three years now, and can't imagine going without. All long distance calls are made on my cell (rarely need to make many). We have Dish satellite, and still use dialup for internet.

What would I like to do? I'd like to ditch the landline, use my cell only, and get DSL or cable internet. Not gonna happen though. . .

Oh, yeah. . . forgot to mention this: I constantly get ridiculed because I have to be on-call for work, and have a work-issued cell for this purpose. Thus during the week I carry two cell phones. . . you should see the looks I get from people.

Anyway, that's me.

~Lyr

Sandgorgon rider wrote:My parents only have cell phones and it drives me crazy. I have to choose whether to call my Mom or my Dad instead of just calling the home and talking with whoever answers the phone. Also if I call just wanting to shoot the breeze and they are driving or out and about somewhere I feel rushed in my conversation. There are also some times when you just want to leave a message for someone, but don't really want to talk to them. It is pretty easy to call a home phone when you know no one is home, but with a cell they are always there. Maybe I should just figure out the whole text messaging thing.

Heh, I have no problem kicking people to voice mail when I don't feel like talking. I actually have cell phone etiquette in that I don't answer while I'm eating and the like.

I dropped the landline today. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Aelyria Mireiswen wrote:
What would I like to do? I'd like to ditch the landline, use my cell only, and get DSL or cable internet. Not gonna happen though. . .

Oh, yeah. . . forgot to mention this: I constantly get ridiculed because I have to be on-call for work, and have a work-issued cell for this purpose. Thus during the week I carry two cell phones. . . you should see the looks I get from people.

Anyway, that's me.

~Lyr

Nit-picky point: for DSL, you'd need your landline. Digital Subscriber Lines run over telephone lines.

During my roof-selling days in MS last year, it was common for people to have three cell phones. We traveled quite a bit, and needed phones in multiple area codes so that customers could call us locally.

Malik23 wrote: Nit-picky point: for DSL, you'd need your landline. Digital Subscriber Lines run over telephone lines.

During my roof-selling days in MS last year, it was common for people to have three cell phones. We traveled quite a bit, and needed phones in multiple area codes so that customers could call us locally.

Come to think of it, you're right.I guess I was thinking we had a different option that wasn't cable or landline-linked. . .

Now, if we lived in the old place (across the street from a large university dormitory) we could just use their wireless system. Alas, not the case.

1 week without the phone. I'm digging it. No telemarketers, no political surveys, nothing. I can eat dinner in peace.

I have to have a landline--I'm so lazy about charging my cell--no one could get ahold of me in an emergency....

I've got the same problem. I've got a company cell, and I've gotten really used to shutting it off after work hours. Now I've got to leave it on 24/7 and remember to plug it in.

Hmmm, but isn't having your cell on 24/7 bad for the phone? I think that's true of some models. But the idea of just having a cell is a good one, and I know people who have done it and have had positive experiences.

I know it's Hell on the battery, but since I'm not paying for it....

True.

Ha. I turn my phone off at 20h30 every night. Somebody wants to get hold of me after that, they can wait til morning.

--A

Lord Mhoram wrote:Hmmm, but isn't having your cell on 24/7 bad for the phone? I think that's true of some models. But the idea of just having a cell is a good one, and I know people who have done it and have had positive experiences.

Hmmm, mine also acts as an alarm clock so it gets plugged in every night when I go to bed. Never had a problem.

I know just what you mean about cell phone etiquette Cail. I have my cell phone on at all times, but it's always on silent and if it's not a good time to answer then I just don't, and it's a bad time if I'm hanging with a friend or spending time with a loved-one.

I also hardly ever answer calls from withheld numbers - if they wanna talk then they can leave a message and I'll call them back.

FWIW, I have now been landline-free for 10 months, and have suffered no ill effects. People do tend to look at you funny when you tell them you have no home number, but I've run into no issues at all.

We have digital phone with Comcast along with the HS internet and cable, so a significant chunk of money is going to Comcast every month... but not having to deal with the evil moron collective that is AT&T - that's priceless.

We too have discussed dropping our home phone and going purely with cells, simply for the fact that anyone we really want to talk to either calls our cells first, or calls our home #, gets voicemail, hangs up, then calls our cell phones.

dw

I'm going back to the Emergency services issue. I know cells can be traced when calling 911, but does anyone know how long it takes for that to happen? We keep our landline only for this reason, as the fear of an additional five to ten minutes wait in triangulating our location in an emergency worries us, especially if said emergency is a fire or stroke or some such, where every second counts.

Since Hyperception and I have finally gotten cell phones this past March, if this issue could be laid to rest, we might consider ditching the landline and using the budget for that to get a higher speed connection...

www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/wireless911srvc.html

This should help answer your questions.

Cail wrote:www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/wireless911srvc.html

This should help answer your questions.

Thank you so much Cail.

We have prepaid cells, not contract plans. This does not set my mind at ease at all. Strokes are common in my family history, starting around my age. I need to know 911 can be called and can locate us instantly in case we can not verbalize our address.

Decisions, decisions...

Of course, it's all about measuring the risk and then deciding how much you find acceptable in your situation.

Just how likely is it that one person would be home alone and unable to verbalize the home address in an adverse event?
[and I know this is morbid, but if you're alone and having a stroke, chances are you can't dial the phone anyway.]

I guess my points are that a) I don't think the additional risk is worth worrying about, and b) it doesn't matter what I think, because we are talking about your peace of mind, and if you don't have it, well, that's a bad thing.

dw