Why do we still have a traditional land line phone? In turns out that we don’t need one.

I love all of your comments. Nonetheless, I decided after writing the above blog to give it a try anyway. If the experiment fails, I'll switch back. I purchased an XLink BT box which takes up to 3 cellphone and pumps them to my old analog phones in my house - so all my old phones and answering machine still work. Fortunately the cell signal at my house is very strong. I'll keep you all posted.

The radiation concern is apparently real, and can be a problem for people who do a lot of calling on cell phones (and indoor "portable" phones) - you are holding the antenna of a radio transmitter right next to your brain; this is proven to be bad for you (apparently drastically increases chances of brain cancer) and there isn't much you can do about it - tinfoil hats, anyone? - so the best thing is to use the cell phone or portable only when absolutely necessary, not for every call, and not for hours at a time. I use my cell phone in the car, only, for emergencies and to contact people when I am on the road.

All the reasons so far are good. The land lines stay in my home, even though I pay a large fee for four (soon five) cell phones. That is for emergency services. If I call 911 on the land line, they know where I am EXACTLY. And, it always works, even in power outages. I can't rely on any of the cell phones at home because coverage is "wimpy" at best.

Call me old fashioned (I am only 30), but I like to use my cell phone for only necessary/important calls. I don't like people being able to reach me at any time. I have an answering machine at home (I do not like Voice Mail), I will get back to you.

Keeping land-line for DSL, sad totally sad.

I'll keep my land line for a several reasons. First, I tape record interviews (yes, the other party agrees) and need the higher audio quality a land line offers. Second, when power goes down, cell sites can run for about four hours on backup power. I've never lost a land line unless a tree takes down a wire. Third, when power goes out, even landline phones that use house current will become useless. That's why I still have an old dial phone in the basement. Fourth, during an emergency, cell phones will get swamped and reverse-911 services will not connect to cell phones. They should get through on land lines, though. And when all else fails, turn to amateur-radio operators. They can usually get through under any conditions except maybe for an EMP attack.

Here is another point about why I will keep my wireline phone, which is that I can have a phone in each room and never need to carry a cell-phone-lump around. And on top of that I NEVER need to recharge my wireline phones, which is a major convenience. Have you EVER been able to have 2 or more cell phones with the same number? Probably NOT. And it is certainly not convenient to ask somebody to pick up an extension and join a conversation. I know that 3-way calling exists, and I know it is way less convenient.
Besides all that, I have never seen a cell phone that fits my head. They all seem to be built for pin-heads, or some such.
So that is why we still need wireline phones.

I have worked for some time in the datacom arena, and we would not consider using cell circuits for data for the same reason I choose to keep a land linefor voice. That is quality of service. Too often a call will drop, blanking hiss will take the place of conversation, or echo is so bad I need to place my cell call again in order to continue my conversation.
And how many times does a land line have signal fade? If it works at all, it works all the time. My cell service is about 90% at my house, somewhat less on the street approaching it, yet perfect in many other areas.
We used to have test sets for looking at copper line quality. I think suggesting such a device to a cell provider would cause a heart attack!
When the reliability and repeatability of cell service approaches that of a land line, I'll consider dropping mine.

What's the first thing that goes down in an emergency of any size? Cell phones. The infrastructure's capacity becomes overwhelmed nearly immediately. That's even before any power related outages.
Land lines almost always go through.

Power outage is one factor. Another I live 3 miles from a cell tower but it is not my supplier's. If I stand on my left foot with my right elbow inmy nose I may have a signal. I will keep my landline until cverage and reliability improve thank you.

Reason... If you have a satellite system for your TV, some companys will charge you more if you do not have it connected to a land line.

Hi Joel,
Interesting topic but I think there's still a very valid reason to keep a landline phone.
Anytime there's a power outage of any significance (I lived in Detroit when the entire East Coast went down for almost 5 days)
your cell phone instantly becomes a paperweight because the cell towers go down as well.
With a landline I was able to call & check on the health & safety of my mother-in-law, find a store who had back-up power & was open so I could fill my car up with gasoline & stock up on food, water & other supplies.
People who only had cell phones were stuck with a lot less info & options available to them than I had.
Granted, we dont get power outages often but
until the aging infrastructure of our power grid gets upgraded (not likley now for many years to come given the current economy & political scene) more major power outages are a distinct possibility and why I'm keeping a landline.
Just my two cents.
Thanks,
Michael D. Walker
CEO, www.ZentiMental.com

When the power went out for five days in the middle of winter, our land-line still worked. The cell phone base station also lost power and they were dead imediately.

Reasons? How about lower radiation? How about true full-duplex conversations?