Kevin's Watch

All right you tech-savvy whippersnappers, I need a hand.

I have a cell phone.

My wife has a cell phone.

My daughter has a cell phone.

Why exactly am I paying for a home phone? I think I'm just keeping it because I think I have to, cuz I damn sure can't think of any reason to hang on to it.

Has anyone else dumped their land line? Is there some reason I'm missing to keep it?

My husband and I have talked about this many times. At the moment, the only high speed internet connection available for our computer is very expensive, and keeping a home phone so that we can have dial up for the computer makes sense. If the price of high speed internet ever comes down so it costs less than having the phone, we will get rid of the phone so quickly your head will spin.

As far as I can tell, these days there is no reason to have a home phone, other than as a computer hookup if your area does not have reasonably priced high speed intenet service.

am having the same dilemma at my house. our land line was out of service for 3 or 4 weeks and the only thing i missed were those political surveys. no one calls us on that line anymore. but...

i can't quite let go. heh.

when i went to hospital for surgery i made sure all friends and family who needed it had Ger's cell number. up to that point they only had mine. so if i was unable to answer for whatever reason...they wouldn't have had Ger's number.

i suppose i keep the land line cause anyone can leave msgs there without having to have both cell numbers.

plus i've had that phone number for 16 years. *sniff*

ok. here's a problem. CREDIT CARDS! Applying for them. Activating them. Many fraud systems key off your home phone number in order to validate who you are - and your address. many will not accept a cell number.

Case in point: we tried to get a credit line for my daughter at a Home Depot in NC. They credit dept turned her down because their System wouldn't let the account be processed without a land line.

But perhaps in the future ...

I've got a cable modem, so internet service isn't an issue.

I think I'm just being sentimental, but the fact of the matter is that the only incoming calls on the land line are telemarketers and survey takers, all the personal incoming calls (with the rare exception) come in on the cells.

Edit-Interesting Creator, I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to call my company and see what they say.

I would love to get rid of my land line....most people call me on my cell phone anyway.

Why cannot I get rid of my land line you ask......I cannot get a cell signal at my house. I am less than one mile off the main drag and no one I know can get a signal either. Cingular, Nextel, Verizon all no signal. Haven't tried Sprint yet.

That's a fairly common problem here in the 'Dena, luckily I don't have that issue.

Still on hold with my CC company.......

For me it's the internet, I have DSL with my phone company. So I'm not only stuck with the land line, but I have to have premium phone service (because of the DSL) - so my land line bill is about $100. This for a phone that I myself never use and never answer.

If you need to call 911 on a cell phone, will they be able to see where you're located? (I'm not sure if how it works.)
I've heard stories where a burgler would be inside a house and the caller would dial 911, not say anything for the fear of being discovered by the intruder, and the 911 operator will send the police and ambulance to the house because of no response over the telephone.
Then again, maybe with today's technology, a land-line is simply not really needed.
(Enter shoulder-shrugging Emoticon here)

911 isn't that much of an issue. Calling 911 on a cell phone grabs th local emergency services anyway, and if worse comes to worse, you can be located via the phone's GPS.

According to Capital One, as long as you change your your account to reflect your cell number as your main contact number, there isn't an issue.

I haven't had a land line for almost a year. Don't miss it a bit. High speed cable modem (an excuse to get cable TV, too--a luxury I've lived without for over 5 years.)

I only have a cell phone, and that's in New Zealand where cell phone calls are extremely expensive. I love not having a landline - no telemarketers.

WRT emergency services, i thought that most new cellphones can be tracked very accuratly. My phone even has a setting to make it easier to track or not.

We dumped our landline about 3 or 4 years ago. Came out cheaper and have had no problems. Knockin' on my head......

our jobs demand it. and we run the comp through the cable. but we don't give out the home phone to many folks.

We havn't had a land line since we moved in to our current place about 18 months ago. I can't say I miss, or even notice it being gone.

I don't have a land-line. Haven't for years. Don't have a connection either though. Or cable/satelite. Minimalist. (Yeah right.)

--A

I have a land line but I don't even know the number. I only keep it because I need it to have broadband.

I would love to get rid of the land line. I would urge you to do so, Cail, and let me know how it goes! Be my Gunea Pig.

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.