Curious...Who Has Gotten Rid of their Land Lines?

[WaltD4Me]

Two recent stories I heard recently got me thinking about this....

Do most people still have land lines or are you just using your cell?

The first story was about a bad gas leak that started many fires a couple towns over from me. In the days after, the city said when they were calling people about evacuating there were over 600 people they could not reach because they no longer had land lines, only cells.

The other was my SIL's sister. She was cooking and accidently dropped her phone is a pot of boiling water, it was totally dead and her husband was at work, her mom was having terrible pain from a root canal and was calling her and calling her to take her back to the dentist, she wound up calling a cab.

I don't know, I know cell phones are great, but I can't imagine only having a cell. Alot can happen to them or you can leave them somewhere or in your car where you can't find them or hear them. I can't even remember the last time my land line went out or wasn't working.

It used to be that people would say, "Cell phones are a must to have in case of an emergency." I'd say the same thing now about land lines.

 

[jimmiej]

We got rid of ours. All we were getting was telemarketers. It's been great!

 

[cathie1327]

My boyfriend and I also don't have a landline in our home. Anyone that REALLY needs to get ahold of either of us has the other's number, so if something comes up they can still get ahold of us, we also both still have our old phones from our current carrier, so switching back to them is as simple as moving the sim card from one to the other.

 

[k5jm]

I got rid of ma-bell for VoIP 8 years ago. I will not let go of the home phone anytime soon. Of course, I have a PBX at the house, also.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

We still have one. AT&T reception sucks in Manhattan for cell phones, so if we want to make calls at home, land line it is.

 

[sayhello]

Personally, after being without power for 4 days following Hurricane Ike, I would NEVER give up my land line. It still worked, but I had no-where to charge my cell phone. Granted, I only have one phone that's actually hooked into the wall. All the rest are portable phones that are useless without power to the base. But that *ONE* phone, hooked to the wall, almost never goes out. I can use it when the cable is down, when the internet is down, when power to my house is down. Not going anywhere any time soon.

Sayhello

 

[mrsxsparrow]

It is actually very dangerous to NOT have a landline. If, God forbid, you need to contact the police for some emergency, it takes them time to pinpoint your location from a cell phone, whereas they can automatically find you from the landline. Also, like you said, if there's an emergency and the city needs to contact you, they'd try your landline, not your cell.

I went a year without a landline when I lived with a roommate off-campus in college, but after hearing some stories I never would again.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Personally, after being without power for 4 days following Hurricane Ike, I would NEVER give up my land line. It still worked, but I had no-where to charge my cell phone. Granted, I only have one phone that's actually hooked into the wall. All the rest are portable phones that are useless without power to the base. But that *ONE* phone, hooked to the wall, almost never goes out. I can use it when the cable is down, when the internet is down, when power to my house is down. Not going anywhere any time soon.

Sayhello

Another good point. My parents had a power outage that lasted 3 days a couple years ago. They only had portable phones, I bought them a cheap plug in phone, it worked perfectly the whole time.

 

[Cherinva]

I've been thinking about getting rid of my land line....I NEVER use it..I have my land line forwarded to my cell....but DBF is against it for all of the PP reasons....in case of emergency

 

[k5jm]

Personally, after being without power for 4 days following Hurricane Ike, I would NEVER give up my land line. It still worked, but I had no-where to charge my cell phone. Granted, I only have one phone that's actually hooked into the wall. All the rest are portable phones that are useless without power to the base. But that *ONE* phone, hooked to the wall, almost never goes out. I can use it when the cable is down, when the internet is down, when power to my house is down. Not going anywhere any time soon.

Sayhello

I forgot that Ike ripped all the way up to KY and OH. That storm stunk!! We were on generator for 14 days.

 

[OKW Lover]

I think its more inertia that we keep ours. I suspect that when we move to FL in a year or two, we won't get a land line.

Of course, I have a PBX at the house, also.

<shakes head> I should have guessed.

 

[corky441]

I've kept our land line but I've switched it over to a pay as you go service.
I think if i make a call it's 9 cents a minute.
No charge for incoming calls
No charge for 911 emergency calls

No caller I.D. or any other "extras"

 

[DEA]

I got rid of ma-bell for VoIP 8 years ago. I will not let go of the home phone anytime soon. Of course, I have a PBX at the house, also.

Yeah, after we ditched the land line, I have fewer things to mess around with on the Asterisk box.

 

[k5jm]

Yeah, after we ditched the land line, I have fewer things to mess around with on the Asterisk box.

Love my Asterisk box (and my two at the office)!!

 

[sayhello]

I forgot that Ike ripped all the way up to KY and OH. That storm stunk!! We were on generator for 14 days.

It was nasty! The rain went one way, and all the horrid wind came our way!! No generator here, so it was no power for over 4 days. YUCK! All our power guys were on their way down to Texas to help out, so when it hit here, there was nobody to fix anything. Took a while for some of our power guys, and some guys from neighboring states, to show up & restore power. Would *NOT* want to go through that again!

Sayhello

 

[kaligal]

I had to have one because of having young kids. Then I had to have one because my AT&T sucked. I'll drop the landline when I get my Verizon iPhone.

 

[flamingglobessigmund]

Haven't had a land-line since Ought 5.

 

[runningstitch]

We dropped ours when we moved last November, and haven't looked back.

 

[auroralark]

We still have a land line. I won't get rid of it. I don't completely trust cell phones and I like having a phone I know will work when I need it.

 

[mikelan6]

I dropped my land line and now use Ooma instead. It was a one time cost and no more phone bills. Of course I still have to pay for Internet and cell service.