# Fark mocks this, but it's really not such a bad idea.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 19, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698 "2004-11-19T18:42:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/1 "2004-11-19T18:42:44Z")
Via Fark “Believe it or not, this Czech monstrosity is a cell phone”
[GSM Desktop Phone GDP-02](http://www.jablotron.cz/en/index.php?pid=products/gdp-02)
If you get rid of your land line connections and go 100% cellular this (IMO) is not such a bad idea for a home phone.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/2 "2004-11-19T18:52:06Z")
That…is a great idea! Why did Fark dump on it?
The only problem I can see is that a power outage would kill your phone, too. With a land-line this doesn’t happen.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/3 "2004-11-19T19:03:40Z")
Nothing to add about the phone, but I’m dearly hoping the company selling it was founded by someone named “Haywood.”
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/4 "2004-11-19T20:30:10Z")
That’s great – especially the QWERTY keyboard. Hell, I might actually _use_ the text messaging and web features on my phone with a keyboard like that.
You can even plug an analog phone into it to use extensions. Hook up a wireless transceiver and you’re good to go! Sweet!
If I didn’t love my ADSL internet I’d be very interested in something like this. (I’m not a big phone guy-- I hardly _ever_ use my land line for chatter, and get by with a $15/mo cell service. Maybe I’ll switch over to this when I get the T1 connection installed. 😉 )
Oh, and **silenus** – the phone switches over to battery power when AC is unavailable, so you wouldn’t lose your phone in a power outage.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/5 "2004-11-19T20:47:43Z")
Do cell towers have batteries?
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### Author:  [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/6 "2004-11-19T22:15:30Z")
-
-
- You need a bit of world-perspective to understand the reasoning of such a thing as a “land line”-style cell phone: in developing countries, they are finding now that it is often cheaper to put in cell phone networks than it is land-lines. Where there is currently NO phone system, they find that the biggest expense of putting in land-lines is usually literally stringing wires everywhere, to every home. So many up-and coming countries are choosing to go straight to mobile-phone networks, just because it’s cheaper and faster to do. You _can’t_ get a land-line, because there _are_ none.
~
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### Author:  [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/7 "2004-11-19T23:05:49Z")
Ever worked in an office and have your office space moved to a new location? Getting the telephone connections is a major pain, and something like this would be perfect!
Also, I don’t think I am the only one who hates those “press 1 for Swahili, press 2 for Finnish, please enter your SS# then enter pound, please enter your phone number and enter pound, please press 9 if you want to know the weather in Bolivia…” etc etc etc. It would be a lot easier to do on a phone like this.
Granted, might look kinda stupid if this was your ONLY cell phone and you strapped it to your belt, but otherwise…
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/8 "2004-11-20T13:09:37Z")
> [@Otto](#):
>
> Nothing to add about the phone, but I’m dearly hoping the company selling it was founded by someone named “Haywood.”
The phone? Eh. Has its uses.
I just wanted to commend the hilarity of this particular post. Jablotron, indeed.
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### Author:  [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/9 "2004-11-20T13:36:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _from the link_ A complete alphabetical “QWERTY” keypad and a large illuminated display make text messages typing and reading so easy that even a grandmother can handle it.
Exactly.
I’m fairly certainthat there are MANY seniors out there who won’t buy a cell phone for the simple reason that it’s TOO SMALL. Hell. I’d love a ‘real’ phone w/cell features - I’m not too fond of the ‘Star Trek’ cell phones.
And I know that with this phone, I won’t have to worry about it going off in the middle of a play or movie.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [November 20, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fark-mocks-this-but-its-really-not-such-a-bad-idea/275698/10 "2004-11-20T13:44:18Z")
I think it’s a pretty good idea, but it does have the drawback of reducing a wireless lne to something you can’t easily take with you when you leave the house. That was kind of the idea being the creation of these lines, so there’s some value being taken away.
What would make this perfect would be a cradle that you put a mobile phone in, and when you leave you take the mobile and the line with you.