A few months ago, sick of nuisance calls, I unplugged the phone line from our phone. I left the power on to keep the stored numbers and the phone charged.
Mother was the only person who called our landline as she didn't like talking to people on mobile phones. This was sister's fault as she calls people handsfree from her car and it can be very hard to hear her properly. What Mother didn't like was Sister's phone calls. She happily spoke to everyone else on their mobile phones. I told ABI Brother that our landline was disconnected but he forgot of course.
That was a few months ago. About four weeks ago I decided to unplug it from the power supply and take it away. For two days R did not notice it was missing. I mentioned it and he said I did that ages ago. No hon, I've removed the phone altogether. R was not sure about the wisdom of this. I assured him I could plug it back in to the power, which I did the next day. Two days off the charger, the stored phone numbers were lost and the batteries must have been just worn out as they would not recharge.
R put the modem up where the phone used to sit but still expressed concern about not having a mobile phone alternative. We could buy new rechargeable batteries but ah, under my bed there is landline plug in phone from the 90s. I would have had to move my bed to retrieve it so here is a photo from the internet.
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So a little more to add to the e-waste pile for disposal at the council tip transfer and recycling station.
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I am one of the few people around here that still has a landline. I used to have a specially adapted phone for my hearing loss but it doesn't work with the fancy sockets here in this house so I bought an amplifier for the handset. Really crackly sound so I may as well just give up.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, the good thing about mobile phones is that you can turn them up quite loud. Can't you use hearing aids to compensate for your hearing loss? Sorry if I've missed something.
DeleteI do have hearing aids but although they help to amplify volume they are not always particularly good at making the clarity of sound decent enough. They are rubbish with landline handsets but I do now have Bluetooth for use with a mobile so that may help.
DeleteWe still have a landline. When my hands are particularly bad I struggle with a mobile. The time will come though when we give it up.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, accidental double clicks... I know most of them on a bad day. There was a time when it was nicer to talk on a landline, but not now.
DeleteWe still have a landline. It's how my Dad contacts us.
ReplyDeleteBob, much the same then. Ours was not an extra cost but became a nuisance.
DeleteWe gave up our landline a few months back. After the initial shock, we survived.
ReplyDeleteDebby, by the time I unplugged the phone we had stopped using it, so no shock for us.
DeleteStalker
ReplyDeleteWe haven’t had a landline for years . The NBN contractors told us we could only have the modem in the bedroom, the shortest distance . For their profit no doubt We knew that was not true , filed a complaint with Telstra and had it placed where the old one was…in the study. A neat power point job no ugly wires A friend was told they had to have the modem in their bedroom ….green and occasionally red flashing lights would light up their bedroom!
I think though that some older people feel safe with their landlines, just like they always use real money .It’s always strange to see people pay in cash nowadays. I wonder how many people still use coin and note. The times they are a changing
Stalker, good on you for pushing for your rights. I am sure the contractors really push people around at times.
DeleteYes, I understand about older people. My mother was one of them. But since we are all using cards to pay, why do we keep getting hit with merchant surcharges? It's rhetorical as I know full well it is to keep some shop income untracked.
Same here. I convert the landline to a silent number for internet connection only.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, I remember issues with naked landline phone lines from years ago. Engineers would look for an unused line and find no phone activity on a line and assume it was unused and make a new connection with it and cut off someone's dedicated home internet connection.
DeleteWe haven't had a landline in years.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
You are a thoroughly modern Millie, Sandra.
DeleteI gave up a landline a long time ago, My mobiles have been reliable over the years (I do a thorough checking) I had a large battery backup at the house but left it there but you have reminded me to see if they have reduced the size of these now. I would like 24 hour if possible. I have rechargeable radio and lamp though. And candles and oil lamps. Uncertain hurricane season in Florida can hit us here as it has in the past.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
WWW, we are lucky where we live as our power is delivered underground. Only once in twenty plus years was it interrupted by a major cable being burnt during a bushfire. We would be in trouble if we had a twenty four hour outage. We do have a wind up torch and some candles but where are the candles?
DeleteGood idea in my book to get rid of it. We only have mobile phones and have has since the day the NBN came to the house.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, as I recall you in Tasmania were the first to receive NBN.
DeleteWe had a land line for the Aunt, scam callers, telemarketers and politicians.. Every time the power went out we had to contact our NBN provider to have the landline reset. We ditched it.
ReplyDeleteCaro, yes I remember about your aunt. Funny, I assume your home internet still worked but your landline didn't after a power interruption.
DeleteI still have a landline. Not sure why really as I never answer it if it rings as only people I don't know or scam calls would use that number.
ReplyDeleteMarie, if it doesn't cost you, and you've learnt to ignore it, I suppose there isn't a point of getting rid of it.
DeleteWe only have our landline for incoming calls. It eats money for outgoing so we don't use it.
ReplyDeleteWell JB, that shocks me that you have to pay to make calls on your landline. You could get rid of it easily enough I think.
DeleteI still have an old landline phone with answering amchine built in and a second handeset for another room. I have taken out the batteries so they don't corrode and the phone will probably never be used again, but I like the style of it, so it sits on a bookshelf and doesn' take up much room at all.
ReplyDeleteRiver, so you don't use the phone but it is decorative. I didn't mind the looks of our old phone on the bench.
DeleteWe have a landline still at home. Though we aren't using it. I have been thinking of cancelling the connection. But I have never got around to doing it.
ReplyDeletePradeep, if it doesn't cost you anything, there isn't a rush to be rid of it, but I would not be paying for a service I didn't use.
DeleteThere is still a debate here about keeping the house phone.
ReplyDeleteReally TP. I thought you would have been rid of such vestiges.
DeleteLandline? What is that?
ReplyDeletesorry, Hels
DeleteYou younguns. I suppose you need lessons on how to use and place a postage stamp!
DeleteEver modern home seems to have a stash of plugs, sockets, mysterious redundant wires and cables. There's tons of this stuff and nobody know what to do with it all.
ReplyDeleteI like plugs and sockets YP, but not wires and cables.
DeleteI have a friend who calls hands free from the kitchen when she is either unpacking, cooking oe washing up. I call her when I'm sitting on the toilet.
ReplyDeleteJames, once I would have been horrified at speaking to someone on the phone while sitting on a lav. But yeah, I've done that. The person did not ask where I was. The germ/health risk is very overrated.
DeleteIt's been many a year, lol old person saying, since there was a landline here. For many months I had no phone. I couldn't afford a cell phone. I could call out free on google talk but no one could call me, which I thought was just fine. But one brother complained he couldn't reach me if need be and then supplied me a phone since he has ten lines on his phone plan. So long to your landline and I don't imagine you will miss it at all.
ReplyDeleteStrayer, not missed at all. I remember your phone situation quite a number of years ago.
DeleteYou've reminded me that I need to give our local pharmacy my new phone number. lol A longtime friend installed a landline phone because their kids kept losing cell phones. They were confused by the contraption, which cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteYou've reminded me that I need to give our local pharmacy my new phone number. lol A longtime friend installed a landline phone because their kids kept losing cell phones. They were confused by the contraption, which cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteDarla, about a year ago a supermarket worker had a landline next to her ringing. She looked at it very suspiciously and gingerly answered it. After some chat the person on the other end must have asked to be transferred to another department but the worker didn't have a clue and just hung up.
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