Open Thread: Who Needs A Land Line?

Sooo 20th Century.

As I was hooking up a new phone in my living room, the kind where you plug a jack into the wall, I wondered why I was holding onto what had largely become a relic. It rarely rings, and even when it does, it’s usually the dentist or a robocaller.

Could my family do without it, much like the 38.2 percent of households that the government estimates use wireless phones alone? How reliable is wireless 911 now? And is there any big difference between the landline services offered by traditional carriers and by cable companies?

These are all questions I had only vague answers to, so I wanted to investigate whether the $900 or so annually we spent on a traditional land line was justified.

I was surprised that the number was only 38.2 percent. I haven’t had one in six years, I believe. Phone bills are a great place for cities and states to nickel and dime you to death with taxes so I figured I would rather pay for one phone than two. I do understand why some people who work a lot from home have them.

But I don’t understand why my mom does.