Landline Use Continues Slow Death > I'll give up my POTS line...

I'll give up my POTS line...

A landline sounds better, until a bad disaster happens.

If a fire is in your house, try calling for help. You'll get electricuted.

Oh, you don't have a cell? Then enjoy watching your house burn down.

I have a backup generator, vonage, cable internet, and iphone 3g. I can surf the web and make calls when everyone's power is out, and I can phone for help in case a fire happened.

Your landline do any of that?

I guess it depends on the persons ignorance and how much the house is on fire.

But hey, if you wanna be an idiot, use something that sends any type of current during a fire.

Oh, and did you just tell me your LANDLINE can surf the web when lights are out?

I assume it can also give you phone service away from home?

Let's see land lines have been around for what, a hundred years or so..

Where are all the stories of people being electrocuted?

reply to b10010011
Yeah, especially if you use a cordless phone

reply to Metatron2008
Your phone won't electricute you if your house is on fire. You may die of the fire(or smoke,etc), but your phone has nothing to do with it (unless it was your phone that caused the fire). POTS is low-voltage.

Now, you are correct that a cell phone is more mobile. But that is not the argument. If your area looses power for three hours, will you still have phone service? Did your cell phone carrier have enough battery? Does your ISP/Cable company? At the pole? The internet/cable industry is unregulated. They are not required to provide service in the event of a natural (or other) disaster. The phone company is on the hook for these services.

Remember the big black-out in the NE a few years back? Cell phones, internet, cable, everything went out. Landlines stayed up all three days we didn't have power.

reply to Metatron2008

reply to Metatron2008

Ever heard of the edit button? Or too old for that?

reply to Metatron2008
"If a fire is in your house, try calling for help. You'll get electricuted."

what??? dumbuest thing I've heard today. thanks for the laugh, I needed it.

reply to quetwo
Okay, if your talking a non electrical, old type phone, then you have a point.

Your also cluing me in to your relative ages here.

Even with that in mind, cell phone service is about to become like digital cable. 3g evolution and 4g both plan seamless handing off across cell towers. Any emergency across areas won't be an issue.

Of course, this requires that you get a 3g or 4g phone...

reply to beaups
Yeah yeah, old people, laugh at my assumption that you didn't have a rotary phone.

Isn't it time for bingo?

And yes, before you mention it, dial tone can be low voltage too. I was making the assumption that you had phones that needed to be plugged in.

wow.. someone's giving the "youngsters" a bad name...
to all the "old people" on this board, I hereby apologize on behalf of all the "younger" members.
WOW... Why the hell would you stay INSIDE your house to call about a fire? That's what freaking neighbours are for.
--
I may work for, but do not necessarily represent the views and beliefs of TELUS Communications.

reply to Metatron2008

reply to JammerMan79
Alright, let's give examples here:

First, neighbors today... Considering how many people aren't exactly trustworth, you'd need someone you trusted.

Then you talk about going to their house, knocking on their door.

What if their at work? Asleep?

Seems like an awful gamble to make while your house burns to the ground.

Lets give more examples here. A phone that's plugged into the wall and has any sort of lcd screen could electrocute you.

But I assume we are not talking about any phone like that.

You must live in a horrible area, I know all my neighbors by name.

Even then, your putting your houses future on faith that they currently are there and can answer the door.

You realize that unless your house is brick, the time it would take to run out the house, get to your neighbor, knock, him open the door, you race in, call 911, your house would be halfway burnt?

Esp. if it was already engulfed when you woke up.

reply to Metatron2008
buddy.. you're talking about a FREAKING HOUSE FIRE!
unless you, bubba and the car on your lawn are feuding I don't know of anyone who's neighbour wouldn't call 911 in this instance..

Can you really make this any more ridiculous?
--
I may work for, but do not necessarily represent the views and beliefs of TELUS Communications.

reply to Metatron2008