# poll: Do you not have a cell phone yet? Do you still have a land line? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371 "2006-12-08T17:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/21 "2006-12-08T22:50:59Z")
My family owns a cell phone, but I doubt I have made 5 calls on it in as many years. In fact, my wife got a new one a couple of months ago - I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it. I _think_ I know the number… The only time I have wanted a cell phone was on the maybe 5 times a year when my train home is delayed for some reason, just to tell her I’ll be late. But she know if I’m late it is because the train in delayed. So yeah, we have a land line. When I am called by folks on their cells, it is not at all uncommon to have a bad connection, or a dropped call - a couple of orders of magnitude more frequently than with landlines. Barring the possibility of a family member having an emergency that the needed me to know about instantly (not sure exactly what that would be, but it hasn’t happened yet) I can think of no work or personal matter that couldn’t wait until I get to an answering machine. No, I’m not a phone person. Basically prefer when it doesn’t ring. When it does, I exchange info and get off the line ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/22 "2006-12-08T23:20:49Z")
I’ve effectively operated without a landline since 2001 and would never consider making a landline my primary phone number again. We do have a landline in our new apartment, solely so that people can use our building’s buzzer system to get let in. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/23 "2006-12-08T23:22:15Z")
I lost my cell and never bothered replacing it, so I just use my wife’s. No land line. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/24 "2006-12-08T23:28:20Z")
Cell, but no land line. I haven’t had a land line for a couple of years, and I don’t miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/25 "2006-12-08T23:42:46Z")
Cell phones, no landline. We’ve had cells for about ten years and also kept our landline (for TiVo, mostly) - then one day it dawned on us that the only calls our landline was getting were from telemarketers. People we liked had our cell numbers. So, goodbye landline! ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/26 "2006-12-08T23:53:39Z")
No cell, just a land line with dial-up internet. I really need to get with the 21st century. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/27 "2006-12-09T00:25:18Z")
No cel phone. Vonage. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/28 "2006-12-09T00:34:40Z")
One land line No mobile ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/29 "2006-12-09T00:43:16Z")
I have a celphone, but there is absolutely no signal anywhere in my home, so it’s useless there. And compared with unlimited local & long distance calling from my home phone for a small flat fee, cel minutes are expensive. The audio quality is poor and variable, often unintelligable; the echo, delay and lack of two-way simultaneous conversation so annoying that if someone calls me from their cel, I try to get them to use a landline instead. Celphones are shitty comunication devices. The only use I have for them is when portability is the greatest factor. ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/30 "2006-12-09T00:46:57Z")
VOIP at home going out through my Comcast cable modem. $20/mo Two cell phones. TMobile on a company plan with 8 others. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/31 "2006-12-09T00:48:34Z")
Land line mostly for my dial up internet and no cell phone. I just don’t really talk to that many people. Anyone that knows me knows to email a request to call them. I’ve thought about getting a cell for emergencies/car trouble and to have on kayak trips where it’s nice to be able to get hold of the people you’re meeting up with but it’s really to much trouble to get one. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/32 "2006-12-09T00:56:49Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny] This doesn’t work well. My brother bought my mom a phone for emergencies. She put it in her glove box and it was dead every time she needed it. [/QUOTE] It can’t go dead if you don’t keep it on. Why keep it on in the glove box? I’m not going to answer it while I’m driving, and only one person (my wife) knows the number. When I say “Emergencies”, I mean if I have an emergency (accident, out of gas, flat tire, etc.). Since such things happen so infrequently (almost never), the power stays charged for a long time. Works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slip_1)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/33 "2006-12-09T01:03:30Z")
I have a landline; the partner Slip and I each have a cell phone. He uses his daily. Half the time, I don’t even know where mine is. I basically only use it for trips. About to relocate (to a place with better coverage), and thinking about a smartphone 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/34 "2006-12-09T01:10:12Z")
Cell phone, no land line. I never was using my land line, so I got rid of it. However, now I have a phone number with Skype, so I can accept landline calls on the computer. Unfortunately, my new really cool phone number is an area code away from a really popular tennis club, so I get at least 5 wrong numbers a day (no kidding) on this land line. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/35 "2006-12-09T01:11:20Z")
I reluctantly went to a cellphone this year, but only use it for long distance. My landline has no longdistance, but I use it for local. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/36 "2006-12-09T01:49:25Z")
No cell, no landline, live off the grid in a remote desert area. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/37 "2006-12-09T02:04:18Z")
Most calls for my wife and I come in on our land line. Most that we make are the same way. I have a cell, but it’s for my convenience–most of the time it is off, unless I’m making a call, or expecting one from my wife. Only three or four other people know my cell number, and they are aware that it is off most of the time, so they’re always prepared to leave me a message if they call me on my cell. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/38 "2006-12-09T02:11:47Z")
I have had a cell phone since I was 15. My parents bought it for me so that when I travelled they could get ahold of me (I often took weekend trips to snowboard in high school). I still have a basic cell phone. I didn’t have a land-line when I first moved down here 2 and a half years ago, but I got one for about 6 months when I lived in a different apartment because I couldn’t get wireless internet there. I had to use dialup, but as soon as I moved, I got rid of the landline and kept my cell. Brendon ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/39 "2006-12-09T02:39:47Z")
I have a work cell and a personal cell. My wife has a cell. And we have a landline. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371/40 "2006-12-09T03:33:04Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny] Me: Also have a free web based NetZero answering machine number to give to those people I don’t want to call my cell, like insurance agents who will respond to bid requests. [/QUOTE] Tell me more about the NZ answering machine… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-not-have-a-cell-phone-yet-do-you-still-have-a-land-line/383371.md?page=3)