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The entry titled "Americans are ditching their landlines," and any of the comments about it.
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Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2008 > May > 15 > Entry
Americans are ditching their landlines
Nearly three in 10 households in the U.S. have only a cellphone or they don’t bother taking calls on their landline phone because it’s probably a telephone solicitation or their landline is hooked up exclusively to a computer.
I cut off my land-line phone and my long-distance service last year because it was getting costly to support my family’s three cellphones with extension texting and calling.
The cellphone figures come from a survey by the Centers for Disease Control. They grew markedly since last year, when 16 percent of households only had cell phones and 13 percent had landlines but got all or nearly all of their calls on their cells.
The growth in cellphone-only use might be one of the reasons why Microsoft is aiming to take 40 percent of the smart-phone market with its Windows Mobile OS by 2012. It was in 11 million hand-sets in 2007 and is expected to reach 20 million this year.
Oh great, another device that’s going to be dominated by Microsoft!
Comments
By MARTA Train SOULJA GIRL
May 15, 2008 11:14 PM | Link to this
I’M PRESSIN’ CHARGES !!
I’M PRESSIN’ CHARGES !!
I’M PRESSIN’ CHARGES !!
I’M PRESSIN’ CHARGES !!
By todd
May 17, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this
What is a land line?
By Stephen
May 17, 2008 6:52 PM | Link to this
I have unlimited VOIP through Packet8. With taxes and everything, it’s about $27/month. The only thing I don’t like is they charge $10 extra for FAX… so I’ve been doing without.
We have Uverse TV and Internet and I’ve been looking at AT&T’s VOIP offering. It includes FAX, but it’s $30/month for a measly 1000 minutes. It’s annoying they don’t have a triple-pack discount for their Uverse VOIP. They also need to offer free HD for local channels like Time Warner, but I digress.
I had a brilliant idea to look into a GSM gateway for my home phone and FAX, but AT&T Mobility doesn’t support FAX over GSM anymore (CSD — circuit switched data plan — used to be 3.99/mo. DRAT!)
By Leah
May 19, 2008 3:54 AM | Link to this
A word of warning for you who think a cell phone is all you need. In spite of what you see on TV detective dramas, if you call 911 from a cell phone and are unable to provide your location (say, if you are unable to speak—for whatever reason), it is quite possible that you will not be found by emergency responders. Especially if you are indoors. Wireless Phase 2 tracking on newer models of phone is capable of giving a location within about 300 ft IF YOU STAY ON THE PHONE LONG ENOUGH (about a minute) but again, if you are not able to physically contact the responders when they get to the area, you will reduce or delay your chances of being located. In the very best circumstances (that is, they keep looking for you until they find you) their response time will still be delayed considerably compared to a call placed from a land line, where your exact address information is immediately transmitted to the 911 center.
If they think you are in danger, responders will do everything in their power to find and help you, but are you willing to reduce your chances of getting help in a life-threatening situation when every second may count?
By danny
May 19, 2008 6:01 PM | Link to this
personally i have a land line as well as a cell phone…..i like the added security.
By emilywww
June 18, 2008 7:43 PM | Link to this
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