I still have and use my landline due to the fact that we need it for our alarm system and in the event the cell sites go down we have it in an emergency.

Out with the old, in with the new. Wire line telephony, cursive writing, NPR, Harley Davidson motorcycles... all going the way of the dodo bird with the boomers. It's the way of the world.

Thanks for your input Mike---I'm envisioning another story to come out of this---what other things are going the way of the poor dodo bird. (although I must admit I didn't know Harleys were out---other than on that South Park episode!)

I keep minimal service for my land line to have in the event of emergencies. A phone that runs without electricity is close at hand to plug into the jack. Cell phones are great, however they also require power to remain charged, and a plain old telephone service line will keep running without, (which can happen frequently in inclement weather here in Pacifica). Additionally, during several disasters the cell phone system gets bogged down and it's good to have a back up.

I still have a landline for my DSL.

With the inconsistent spotty cell service on the coastside, anyone relying on wireless technology is a 911 disaster waiting to happen!

cindy, cell phones can be charged in a car or with a portable power pack. You don,t only have to use indoor electricity. I turned off my landline when I retired due to the cost of paying for a smartphone being high. Having a landline is a good idea, because the county has an automated phone calling system when there are local chemical leaks. I got a call to stay inside one year. That doesn't happen often though.

I need it for our alarm system, also a lot of people don't have my cell phone number and it would be a lot of work and hassle to update everyone.

I have only a landline for a couple of reasons. I use a phone very minimally, therefore I'm not leashed to trivial talk or solicitiations. Since it's wired to the wall I know where it is 24/7, it's never lost. My answering machine has never been filled and as far as I know hasn't missed a message. Strange how most solicitors (computers) don't leave messages? And the time that it loses power or degrades in reception seems to be far less than with wireless phones. I will admit I'm not a fan of paying in excess of $ 650 annually for communcation (DSL + phone) services, but that's modern times. So far I've been very lucky in not needing a phone at the wrong place for unexpected reasons. I guess I'm a rarity these days in that a dog is a better companion than a wireless phone? And no, I'm not a lonely person.

After the electric transformer suddenly blew up and darkened a huge swath of our neighborhood for 2 days, we had difficulty recharging our cell phones. Our electric-based 'landline' phone was totally unusable. We had no way of easily contacting anyone. I was able to dig up our old landline phone that plugs in the phone jack and we used this good-old-standby to make contact...we had no electricity: no internet, dead cell phones and a useless wireless/electic phone. It was very strange to feel very disconnected. In an emergency, I'll keep my phone jack/ landline, thank you very much!!

Does anyone know if it's true that if there is a phone jack in your house and you're not paying for a landline that you could still plug a phone in to dial 911?

Becky. You got a call to stay inside for one year? Seems extreme. ;)

The whole reason they had to keep lines on was so you could call 911. You can call 911 from a any cell phone as well even if the service has been disconnected

Have both landline and cell - will keep landline for when power goes out and this is the number the whole family knows. Hasn't changed for over 35 years! At the same time, it's also the number all the survey people and those wanting donations call -- keeps them off my cell - at least for now.

Until two years ago we had a landline for our alarm system and then ATT U-Verse said we didn't need to have a landline we could use the phone connected with the Internet. So we switched over to that. It does remain, however, that in the event of power outage, we can only rely on our cell phones. Probably not so good to be without landlines.

you can sign up to get emergency notifications to your cell/email.

i have the att uverse "landline " as it was a cheaper bundle. they also supplied a 2day battery pack in case the power goes out, and i believe are required by law to provide you with other means after 3 days

I have a line line and always will have it. I also have a "cell phone" that does everything which I don't use. I have a pay-in-advance on it, that is all that I require. It's for emergency or importaint things if I'm not at home. At that, the use is minimal. Haven't grown up with no phone, I have never achieved the phone conversations for no purpose. No trivial talk, and no having to speak with someone all the time. No, I'm not lonely. I don't need 500 "friends" I really don't know either. Lorraine Nielsen

to RJ and others. I made an error
I received a machine message that there was a chemical spill -- but later on THAT day, another call from the county said it was safe to go outside (w/ landline). Also if you don't pay to keep a lamdline on, then you cannot use it for emergencies

betsey, who do I contact to sign up to get emergency information sent to my cellphone?

Cell phone towers typically only have backup power for a few hours. When it runs out of power you run out of communication. The relays and central office for POTS have more robust backup power and are typically built to ride through a higher level of Richter scale than most buildings. When (not IF, but WHEN) we have that big quake, cell service will first be overloaded, then go dead.

Some other tips: texting uses a separate frequency on the cell service than voice so you can often get a text msg through when there is an emergency and the voice/data is jammed. If you still have POTS, you may pick up your phone and get no dialtone (happened on Oct. 17, 1989). Keep the phone off hook and listen and wait: there are still more phones than dial tones available. Waiting puts you in a queue, and when you get the dialtone you have about 6 seconds to dial or you lose the access.

I pay $10.00 a month for a landline and do not have a permanent Cell Phone. I had one when I was working in High Tech, and it was useful, but I was on call 24/7, along with texting.
Not working with a company anymore, (I have my own business), I have no need for a Cell Phone. I have lots of friends, and have no problem connecting with them. But I do not need to hear a blow by blow update of their events for the day. I also manage very well without a million apps to "help" me live my life.
I do have a disposable Cell Phone I put money on when we travel, which works great. To each their own.

Oh, one other thing. My family asks what would happen if husband and I got stuck or needed help, what we would do? My husband said " We can just flag someone down as I am sure they have a cell phone"

We do not have a land line. We are both senior citizens. We love the fact that with a cell phone we can call for help in our car, at the beach, out for a walk, at the community pool. A life saver for sure. We can charge our phones in our car or almost anywhere we go. We cannot afford both land line and cells, so we opted for the more convienent!

Dear Mike;
You should be so lucky to have a generation with a name. Actually more than one generation is included in us Boomers. I suppose I really don't have to tell you that one day someone will be glad your gone too.
On a lighter note. Don't forget that 20% extra (PPT)of your phone bill goes for the subsidizing among other items on your bill to all 911 calling service and even if you don't subscribe to "On star" you can still use it to call 911.
Another question: Will the lower use of land lines effect the City's franchise and income from the phone company? I'm not sure?

Having a land line helps when I talking on my cell and it drops out.

A landline is still reliable and always works in a power outage. And like Phyllis said, when my cell dropped calls, which is quite often, a landline helps. (Yes, I have AT&T for my cell and I still have one of those punch-button phones from my college days.)

Definitely pros and cons to either view, but there's one thing I didn't see mentioned. When having to give personal information over the phone (credit card #, Social Security # , etc.), I always use the land line since cell phone conversations can be listened into by people who have the right equipment. Granted, I don't think any of our neighbors have those devices, but I'm curious - isn't this still sound advice for any cell phone user when it comes to personal data?

Who still uses a land line? People who value their PRIVACY. There is a HUGE media campaign to convince people that THE most private way to send a document (fax) today is "old fashioned" or "lame". They did the same thing with myspace, remember that? I read on cryptome dot org that the govt rarely spies on Myspace, because the data was more cumbersome to mine from. Gee, coincidence that all of a sudden myspace members were leaving in droves? Then, many websites all of a sudden made it so you could only comment if you had a Facebook account! I remember thinking something was up eons ago when websites became so bogged down with images and Java, that one had to do away with dial up to even view a page. For your information, dial up changes your IP address constantly, unlike high speed cable. Much harder to track a person using a dial up than with cable. The campaign to do away with "old fashioned" land line has dual benefit: cheaper for corporations to not keep up the hardware on copper wire, and easier to collect data on a person who doesn't use a FAX (again, most secure way to send documents perhaps except "snail mail" - another ugly term used to draw us away from using it) as opposed to iPhone or smart phone etc. The media blitz on ridiculing land line users was NO ACCIDENT. Question yourself every time the media comes out with some "new" way of doing things. What is their agenda? Who benefits? What is LOST

I have both cell and a land line. I don't like the cell phones sizes and since I am not able to use them while driving to do research, I find them only convenient when arriving at my work destinations. Cordless service in my rental is clear and sharp and I can roam around with a cordless and my publisher pays for it all.
Also, I loathe people talking on the phones while they are shopping or in a restaurant and find them pretentious. I turn mine off when dining or interviewing out of respect to the other people. Most people just jabber on them.

Does a land line make it more likely that the cops will know right where I am when I call 911? After a recent visit from a government employee who got his foot in the door (literally) and wouldn't back off, I wondered if I should get a land line.

We keep a landline through our DSL service simply because cell coverage inside our house is hit and miss.