Fixed telephones: a thing of the past?

[Enrique]

Is fixed line telephony over? When I call to someone's cellular from home, a not unusual advice I receive is "do not please call to my cellular; do use my phone at home". So mobile to mobile calls are inexpensive whereas fixed to mobile are not? Is this so in Britain? In the US?

Anyways in my country fixed to mobile is sensibly more expensive than fixed to fixed. So I could infer that the telephone company is not interested in balancing the situation, and even worse, that they encourage the use of mobile telephony. At home, I don't see the point. In the street, I like to carry with me as few things as possible, sometimes, not even my wrist watch.

Another issue. Watches. In the street: Could you tell me the time? And he looks at his phone and says: A quarter to eight. But his time I know its terribly inaccurate. They could have adequate time keeping in their small systems if only they hanged from some internet time service (almost all mobile devices have internet today). But they do not give it much importance. Even wrist watches can be inaccurate if the owner does not care about precision. I keep mine to within one second of official time.

[Chris]

Eventually, yes, I think mobile phones will completely replace "fixed" phones. There is a clear use for a phone that you can take with you. And having two separate phone numbers is usually more of a nuisance than a help. If I were moving into a new place today, I wouldn't even bother to have a home phone. Costs are always an issue, but they adjust as the technology and markets develop.

[Megan]

How do we then connect to the interenet without a fixed landline?
It is expensive if you the internet on a cell phone.

I have noticed there are virtually no public telephones now in our town, the empty phone boxes, BT have refused to take away, so they are left there redundant.

[Enrique]

So I am who lives in the land of hope, for I have public phones yet here in Argentina. Third world countries will inherit the Earth. You most certainly know the huge fortunes made possible by what can be called the economic boom of the late twentieth century. Personally, I advocate mail over Graham Bell's invention. Mail on horseback.

"How do we then connect to the interenet without a fixed landline?
It is expensive if you the internet on a cell phone": It's expensive. All the more so, people should buy more watches.

[Peter]

We are being taken over by technology - I wonder how much more time people spend on the phone making pointless conversation now than they did 20 years ago? You cannot go anywhere without seeing people constantly tweeting or texting in a world of their own oblivious to what is around them. My mobile lives in my car for the sake of emergencies and no one has the number!!

[Enrique]

You grow every time in my esteem, Peter.

[Enrique]

We are being taken over by technology. What a great truth. One way to see the big ditch opened between the world of technology and humanities is to watch the lamentable state of language, the language we speak. In my own one, the signs of deterioration are visible. In English I am not a good judge but those signs are perceptible even to the foreigner. It is enough to read the paper to see it. As an example, the growth in the use of abstract names by people (those ending in 'ity', mostly). Most use them, but without realizing the abstract quality of the concept and frequently end up using them as mere names for concrete objects. That somebody drops an s in the third person or finishes a sentence with a preposition is not that important. Writers tend to consider these as normal traits. Of course inability in syntax is more grave than imperfect morphology. But people tend to make conceptual mistakes when they want to speak "fine" or fashionably, say, when they're given a microphone. If we don't begin by demanding a greater level for primary and secondary school teachers, we will soon see a world of semiliterate people out there.

[Sorrano]

The deterioration of language is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. At work I see in emails very poor grammar, little punctuation if any, horrible spelling, and poor expression of concepts. It makes it difficult to understand what some people are trying to communicate.

I'm with you, Enrique, I would just as soon do away with phones altogether, but I do realize their importance. At home my landline phone is muted so that it does not ring. It will soon be replaced with a mobile, but it will not have a data plan, nor will it rule my life. It will be mostly for work, and when at home will be treated like my landline.

[Enrique]

Glad to see we agree on the language thing. My phone, which is to say my landline phone, has the sordina put and is far away from the bedroom. And the jack beside my bed I never use it. If I do not do that, I can be awaken by the city government to tell me some trees are about to fall and I must take precautions. And how can I expect to be successful when complaining before the state that some car dealer uses my phone for advertising? About the deterioration of language, as I call it, it's hard for me to understand how people being so bad at speaking their own language --my fellow countrymen, seem notwithstanding to act successfully in their lives. Perhaps language is not so strongly connected with thought as I think.

[Sorrano]

As much as I appreciate the usefulness of a phone it has become such a nuisance with all the telemarketing and such. Then with the mobiles things are really out of control. People get killed here because they are so focused with whatever conversation and texting that they fail to see oncoming traffic, trains, etc. Technology has been a major feature of my life and career, but as I get older I tend to lean away from especially the telecommunication technology as it increasingly interferes with my private life.

People still tend to be impressed with those that can write coherently and with correct grammar. If one is applying for work and displays good written, as well as spoken, communication skills then there will be greater opportunities to move forward than those with equal technical skills, but poorer communication skills.

[Chris]

Communications technology always seems to be a kind of arms race between those who want to use it advertise and those who want to use it but avoid advertisements. Mail is great, but junk mail is not. The telephone is great, but telemarketing is not. The Internet is great, but the ads and malware are most definitely not.

[Enrique]

Western peoples --I speak about what I know-- have always been marked by the compulsion to change. Thus the printing press was born, art has flourished and science has advanced (let's not confuse science with technology). I think -no, I say, that the change is now so fast that we cannot keep pace with it (been said by many others before me). The result has to be catastrophic. For instance, there cannot be biologic evolution in this way, because there is no time for adaptation. She has given us a big brain for our own doom.

[Peter]

Communications technology always seems to be a kind of arms race between those who want to use it advertise and those who want to use it but avoid advertisements. Mail is great, but junk mail is not. The telephone is great, but telemarketing is not. The Internet is great, but the ads and malware are most definitely not.

Absolutely - the technology itself is wonderful and has the potential for much good - it is our obsession with it and the compulsive addictive use of it for many that is bad. Also there is a lot of very harmful stuff out there on the web (especially for young people) - this site hopefully provides a safe haven!!

[Megan]

I am way behind with the technology of today, I don't even possess a television.
My music teacher is much the same, he doesn't have a computer, so no email, or landline, he just uses his cell phone for contact, which he gets along fine with. I can contact him at church if needs be.

[Symphony7]

How do we then connect to the interenet without a fixed landline?

I use a dongle.