I tried to get a landline but my apartment building is a shithole, so I couldn’t (landlord offered to put $100 towards fixing the unknown problems with the phone wires - no thanks).
So I have a basic cell phone only, no texting on my plan.
Hmmm. I went with a lot of choices this time:
I only have a cell phone, no land line. - Pretty typical 20-something these days. I have zero need for a land line.
Cell phones have made my life easier. - Particularly for organizing social situations and getting people together in the same place at the same time.
Cell phones have made my life hell. - Frankly, it’s hard to relax sometimes when I’m so damn available to anyone who thinks they may need me. The best part of my trip to the Bahamas earlier this year is that I couldn’t get a call for a work emergency or family drama for an entire week, and I didn’t have to go through a “why wasn’t your phone on?!?!” inquisition afterwards. It really is liberating to “disconnect”.
I have a basic cell phone, for calling only. - Not strictly true, but much closer than the other answer. While I could easily afford a smartphone, I think it’s kind of a waste of several hundred dollars a year. I get whatever the best “free with upgrade” phone is, and whatever the cheapest available plan is.
I text more than I talk on my cell. - A couple of years ago this wouldn’t have been true, but it definitely is now. For anything urgent, calling is better, but for anything less time sensitive, I am a texting convert at this point.
I am a total gadget dork, but cell phones are the one thing that’s never really caught on for me.
I don’t have a cell phone, but my wife has one (pay-as-you-go). She rarely turns it on, though.
Not only I do not have a land line at home, but I only know one Finn who does, and she’s my 90-year old grandma. And even she has a cellphone as well.
IIRC there’s been talk of shutting down the whole land line phone system in Finland in some near future since its not used much any more.
Currently I still have my landline, but I’m getting ready to ditch it. I just picked up an iPhone 4 and my plan has a spot for 5 numbers that I can talk to unlimited. That covers everyone legitimate that ever calls me, and there’s still enough minutes on the plan to deal with the ones not on the 5 numbers list.
A lot of people are bringing up the ‘why text, you have a phone!’ thing. Well, I’d prefer to just call too, but everyone cuts their phone minutes down to nothing and just get an unlimited texting plan. It annoys me because it allows people to ignore me with ease.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who voted for both “Cell phones have made my life easier”, and “Cell phones have made my life hell”.
My wife and I are on the same mobile plan with Verizon, with one cell phone each. I also have a second cell phone from work. I rarely use my personal cell phone these days as my life pretty much revolves around work. My wife doesn’t even try getting me on my personal cell phone anymore, knowing I will always have my work phone with me and will always answer it.
I also have a land line, and the ONLY reason I do is because my stupid alarm company (1-800 alarm this, you freaks) will only run with the features we have if it is linked into a land line phone connection. If it weren’t for that, I would have gotten rid of our land line 2 years ago, because we don’t use it at all.
I actually did cancel the land line phone service temporarily, until I realized our alarm system wasn’t working properly without it. So I had to reconnect it. But when I did, I switched to Comcast, which brought our land line phone bill down from about $40 to about $22 per month. No, I’m not lauding Comcast; I hate those freaks too, but a savings is a savings.
We have to have a land line because we live in a Dead Zone.
If Verizon would amp up their coverage here in Buttfuckmongolia, I would cancel the landline in a heart beat.
Typical person in their early 20’s - I have a nice bells/whistles phone (I buy them used on ebay and sell my new ones every 2 years, but that’s just me), I text a lot (to my younger siblings 15 and 19 and, even, to my 54 y.o. mom during work), and I only have a cell phone.
I’m trying to convince my folks to convert the house # to a cell phone, since nobody tend to pick up the house phone anyways.
I use mine primarily for e-mail.
the last time I had a land line was in… I dunno maybe about 2000?
I text to a certain degree, because I hate talking on the phone, but I have a very basic phone with no bells or whistles. I also have this purely irrational hatred of voicemail (sometimes I go months at a time without checking my voicemail, then just delete all of them without listening).
On the whole I prefer to receive a text for a short message, rather than a call. I don’t usually engage in “conversations” via text though.
3 cells - one for alarm, one for pocket, backup for car
2 VOIP carriers - magic jack, generic VOIP provider (like Vonage, but better and cheaper)
1 land line
I put other because I don’t text and have blocked text messages to my phone.
I seldom take the phone with me unless I’m traveling. It doesn’t have a camera … I have a nice little point and shoot digital for any picture taking I want to to do.
Love the phone. It’s like having a land line without it’s limitations.
Cell phone. No landline. All the people in my group of friends have cell phones without landlines, too. I can’t remember a time before cell phones so I don’t know if my life is easier, but I put “yes” anyway! I text more than I talk. I text really quickly and with text messages I can read and respond to them at my leisure (such as during pause breaks while I’m playing a game) rather than interrupting whatever I’m doing. My phone is pretty basic but I’m getting a free upgrade in October so hopefully that’ll change.
Edit: Reading other posts in this thread… I guess my phone isn’t as basic as I thought. It can record video, etc, but I thought that that was standard on even the cheapest phones by now. By “basic” I meant “it’s not a smartphone”.
We live full time in our motor home and travel all over the country so a cell phone is our only option.
In addition we have an aircard that uses the cell towers and connects to the Verizon broadband data net. That is our internet access.
I have an iPhone 4, but neither talk or text that much. I use it mostly for apps, Internet access and watching Netflix.
I only have a cell phone, no land line - Haven’t had one in about 5 years. Just not necessary any more. The only calls I got on it were telemarketers, and the cordless phone had worse reception than my cell.
Cell phones have made my life easier/I have all the bells and whistles - I just recently upgraded from a basic phone (which had a camera and ringtones :eek:) to an Incredible on Verizon’s plan. Love it, freaking love it. It is so awesome to not have to plan everything out at the computer before setting out on the road, and god help you if plans go astray.
I went sofa shopping a few weeks ago, and I was determined not to come home without one. At the time I still had my simple phone, and when I came across some deals I didn’t know about, I wound up having to call a friend to check some listings online. I’d also had to plan out a list of businesses to hit on the computer before leaving. If I’d had my smartphone at the time, I could have done all the gruntwork on the fly and been far more informed. Even then, if I didn’t have my cell phone, I wouldn’t have been able to call my friend in the middle of my quest. Things have definitely gotten easier.
I talk more than I text on my cell - Texting’s a lot easier on a smartphone than my old one, but I’m still not used to it. Besides, as jjimm and MeanOldLady pointed out, when you want to talk to someone now, voice is still the fastest means of communication. Texting is better for when you don’t know if the person you want to talk to is available right away, or else it’s not imperative that you receive a response right away, which allows the textee to respond at their pleasure. I do use Googletalk on the phone with a particular friend, but we’re both more comfortable with instant messaging to talk to each other anyway.
I had a go-phone but I waited too long to add minutes and lost the number. I’d have to pay to get a new number so I pretty much just have a clock now. Oh and in uncomfortable situations I have a way to pretend I’m distracted by a phone call!
iPhone (3GS 16GB, black, in black/yellow Otterbox) owner here
Strangely enough, I HATE phones, cell, landline, you name it, when the sodding things ring it goes right up my spine and I have to stifle the urge to smash them, thankfully, my phone doesn’t ring much, as there are only five people who have my number, my parents, and my three old college buddies, each one has a ringtone assigned to them, if the phone rings with the default ringtone, I know I can safely ignore it
I treat my iPhone more like a pocket computer anyway, 99% of my use is netsurfing/streaming videos/light gaming (Plants Vs. Zombies, Pocket God, etc…) checking the weather, using the GPS/mapping apps (MotionX GPS is a great app) etc…
I have a blackberry, we also have a landline strictly for partner’s conference calls since he works from home.
I text or use facebook far more than I’ll ever actually make a phone call. I am stuck on the phone 40 hours a week at work. I call my mom once a week and if that is the only non-work phone call I make in a week, I"m happy.
A smartphone has made my life easier because I don’t spend as much time online when I get home from work or a short trip as I used to.