Why do you pay for a telephone?

[nathan]

I have never understood why people pay for telephone service. All you do is pay a large monthly bill so debt collectors can call and annoy you by asking for money, and others to call and sell you stuff you dont need and get you more in debt. Paying for a phone is like handing someone a gun when they want to kill you. Unless your life is so meaningless and shallow that you enjoy being called by bill collectors and telemarketers, or you get a thrill out of your motherinlaw calling to bitch, why are you paying for phone service? And you know you can call 911 from any cellphone without service, so dont say you need a phone for emergencies. Phones are one of the biggest wastes of money in any home. Rather than pay a phone bill, pay off your other bills and the bill collectors wont keep harassing you by mail after you disconnect your phone. And for the mailbox, well, that's another useless device in every home. Just another means for bill collectors and advertisers to harass you. The only good thingt is that there is no cost to own a mailbox (not yet anyway), and the contents of the mailbox can be tossed in the garbage without annoying you.

[PV]

Ummmm, perhaps so a potential employer can call, so the kids can call home and ask for a ride or to keep in touch with friends and family.

And a land line is still cheaper than a cell phone.

[Nate Nagel]

Not my experience at all.

nate

[WhiteTea77581]

A few other advantages.

1. Since it has it's own power supply, it is also less likely to get knocked out.

I knew lots of people with only cell phones that had no service for 4 days during Hurricane Ike. (I let them use my land line for $2.00 a minute. :-)

1. Reception is always consistently good.

1. Doesn't need batteries.

Andy

[AZ Nomad]

That is only true if you talk more than 500 minutes/month.

[stan]

Yes here in North America it is generally true that one does not pay for each local land line call; whereas in some countries one pays for each call or each minute of time spent when one initiates the phone call, local or otherwise! With cell phones many plans are structured so that one is charged for air time, or an air time amount is structured into the basic charge or 'package'. Also land-line phones are generally more reliable and do not to the same extent depend on either their own batteries or the power at cell phone sites/towers or on the local cable system for power to their nodes. An extended power failure of a couple of days could and sometimes does play havoc with cell phone services. There are of course advantages to cell phones. Often not listed in phone book! Supposed to work almost anywhere (not true in certain areas!) can be installed much more quickly than where cables, poles etc. throughout towns, cities and the countryside are required. Because of the investment in an excellent North American system installed during the 1950s through 1990s etc. North America prospered during that period while other countries and parts of the world had generally poorer communications. But if a country was starting today to install a 'good' telephone/ communication service a choice of only cell phone service might be a good alternative? And a land-line is more limited in regard to the extra services (texting, video, internet etc.) it can provide. Just a few thoughts. BTW have at least one land-line phone in the home that does not need batteries or electricity to operate! We had a power outage which was restored fairly quickly as is usually the case, by the excellent work crews of our local power utility. The following day neighbour complained "Her phone was still not working". Her el-cheapo cordless handsets had not reset or recharged or something!

[HeyBub]

That's exactly what happened in Poland a few years ago - after the collapse of the Communist system.

Various companies were called in to bid on upgrading the national system to electronic switching and all the rest. Everybody said the system was so decrepit it couldn't be fixed.

They junked the entire national telephone system and went entirely cellular.

[Metspitzer]

A good way to keep bill collectors from calling is to pay your bills.

[gwandsh]

Perhaps if you didn't have so many outstanding bills life might be a little rosier. You might want to track some of those issues a little closer to home.

Have a nice day.

[Joe]

smells like a troll, but I'll bite.

pay your bills and you won't get collection calls and collection letters.

oh, and say no to telemarketers and advertisers. You'll probably have less bills to pay if you go this route.

[Oren]

For me it is simple. I have not been able to use Telepathy. Now an then I call Mom on the phone. She says, "your ears must have been ringing. I was just talking about you!"

[Sanity]

I guess you have no friends or family that are willing to talk to you.

[Cheri]

And you're not annoying everyone around you when you're talking on them like those people on cell phones.

Cheri

[C & E]

I pay because I despise cell phone conversations where you're talking past each other every other sentence. It might be a good idea to take on a WW II walkie-talkie courtesy of saying a "done-with-that-sentence", like, "over". I'm getting too old when I can get PO'ed about something that I don't use five times a week.

[gore]

I don't have bill collectors calling me. I buy what I can afford with cash. What ever happened to saving for what you want? I wonder how many Americans have a savings account. I do need a land line for DSL though, it helps me spew my BS.

[ktos]

"PV" wrote in news:ZPJbm.36888$Db2.6873@edtnps83:

It's not. I cancelled my landline that cost me $45/month for a prepaid cell that costs me $100/year.

[WhiteTea77581]

3@edtnps83...

They have cell phone blockers for a pretty reasonable price. They are mighty tempting. :-)

Andy

[Freckles]

Ever had a friend, nathan?

[Van Chocstraw]

If you can't take it with you it's not worth a damn to me. I'll never have a land line again.

[The Daring Dufas]

messagenews:ZPJbm.36888$Db2.6873@edtnps83...

They're actually illegal in The U.S. but guess who buys most of the things? Yep, The U.S. government. Dey got guns an dey kan doo wut dey wants.

TDD