When was the last time you answered your home phone? It seems like just yesterday I was begging my mom for my own phone line so all my friends could call me at home and I wouldn’t have to worry about my parents being on the line. Now, whenever I am filling out any kind of paperwork or school forms I normally leave the line that says “home phone” blank. The home phone is gradually becoming obsolete.
Remember address books? All of those hours spent memorizing my friends and family phone numbers feel like such a burden now that I can just type it in my cell and never have to look at it again. I kind of miss knowing my friends phone numbers. Now I’m lucky if I can still remember my home phone and my mom’s cell phone number. At college it is rare to find student apartments or houses that have a landline. Students here feel it is a waste of money since they have their cell phones. When I am home I don’t even bother to answer the home phone anymore because it seems like it is only telemarketers that call anyway, everyone else calls my cell phone.
According to the Associated Press, as of late 2007, 16 percent of U.S. households had no landline whatsoever, compared to just 5 percent in 2004. If that rapid trend of ditching landlines continues, half of the U.S. could be without one in about 10 years.
Is abandoning the landline for the cell phone the right thing to do? After all the landline never did anything to us. It was always there for us whenever we needed it and never gave us reception problems. Can pushing the landline out the door cause more than just sentimental consequences? As we drift farther away from the household phone we drift farther into a society based on the individual. When we lose the home phone we lose the opportunity to communicate with the whole family. Instead of checking in with a group of people we have to call each one individually and have separate conversations.
The question of the day today is how will the loss of the home phone affect you? Is the landline an important part of building a community or will the cell phone culture that is taking over be sufficient enough to satisfy our calling needs?
I say YAY to cell phones but call me crazy but I still don’t want to give up my home phone. What can I say, I want it all!
Ask Ashley
I personally will always keep my home phone... I would rather have spam calls go to my answering machine than my cell phone!
ReplyDeleteAshley, you sooooo stole my next topic! But wow, you have no idea how much I agree. I'm back home for the summer and this land line phone drives me up the wall when it rings. Though I go look at whose calling, I NEVER pick up... I think it's something instilled in me where I can no longer pick up that house phone. I remember when it was so cool to have a "cordless" phone in your household, now it means nothing. I feel like if the person needed me, they'd be calling me on my cell phone since I'm only down here for a few weeks at a time during the year. I can't picture life without a cell phone, but I've been perfectly fine without a house phone. It's crazy how things just change up on us...
ReplyDeleteAnywho, great post! You should check out my latest post: http://praniece1107.blogspot.com/
Hope all is well, Prenes
That is funny. I remember those days where I would wait hours for my mom to get off the phone just so I could call one of my friends to ask them one question. It is also funny to remember the days where we would actually have to know the persons number that we are trying to get in contact with. There are very few phone numbers that I know now a days and if I were to lose my cell phone or if it were to crash I wouldn't be able to get in touch with many people including my family!!
ReplyDeletePraniece1107- I do remember the cool coordless phone days. I do agree that if someone really wanted to reach me they should just always try my cell phone. I guess I'm just nostalgic when it comes to my landline because I feel liek every household should still have on in case of emergency. Or at least to give the number to people you don't want calling on your cell.
ReplyDeleteKevin- I completely agree I can't remember the last time I had to remember a phone number! It's crazy how much we rely on technology such as our cell phones to remember everything for us. What happens when it dies or you lose it? We should still write down all of our numbers on paper or in a book so that if technology fails we don't lose everyone's number!
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