On 10/7/11, daniel turner <outwest112@yahoo.com> wrote:
The "safety" argument for a land line is the last gasp of the AT&T clones. It's just a marketing gimick and you shouldn't believe it. If things go really bad, you are on your own and you need to plan for it.
Natural disasters can destroy any part or all of the infrastructure. What survives and what goes down is then a crapshoot, and not necessarily due to any intrinsic qualities. Of course if the whole system collapses, those dependent on instant communication are up a creek without a paddle. We'll be dependent on the ham radio operators at that point. My own experience supports keeping a land line. Twice since I've had a cell phone, I've lost all reception bars on my phone during a power outage. One time I only had to drive a few blocks to pick up a cell tower. My mother is an elderly double-amputee and has no driving option. She could still call me on her land line even when I had no cell reception. There will always be landlines; we are seeing a shift from wires to optical fiber but they will always be around, for data transfer if not voice calls. As the human population grows, there is only so much useful electromagnetic spectrum available for wireless transmission. Industry already bids and plots to capture parts of it from the FCC in this country. To comment on Erik's situation a bit more, he lives alone wheras I had to deal with a family situation. Doctor calls, dentists, schools, an endless list of home-related business calls that I prefer to send to a land line so as to not be distracted with it during my work day. Once home, they are all on my answering machine and deleted or called back as I see fit, without having to sort them out from business and personal calls on the cell, as well as not sucking down my minutes. I also don't want to have to use wireless minutes to access the Internet at home, since my situation doesn't warrant the expense of an unlimited data plan. I'm sure everyone has their own very good reasons for the communications choices they have made, and others may or may not see the logic in it. They don't have to.