A landline phone is no longer common in homes. With many smartphone contracts with unlimited minutes, and WhatsApp, Facetime and other VoIP calling apps ensuring we can chat until our hearts content at no cost, for many, the landline is downright dead. Despite this, however, BT recently introduced a home phone with Amazon Alexa built in. The news brought a wry smile to my lips because until recently I was a fan of the home phone and would have been the first in line when it went on sale. If you had taken a look around my house last year, your eagle eyes would have seen a home phone hidden among my collection of smart home devices, because I wasn't ready to give up just yet. However, ever since I unplugged the phone for a big DIY project, I've realized that at least for me a home phone is no longer a necessity. I bet you're wondering why you still had a home phone in 2020. It was partly a comfort blanket. When I was a teenager, back in the days when cell phones used to be bundled with only 15 minutes of free calls, you could only text to people on the same network, and dial-up was the fastest way to get connected, the home phone he was the king. “Get off the Internet, someone might try to call” was the most common cry heard in my house. We were made to understand that the line should be used as little as possible, in case someone needs to contact you.
How about a cell phone?
Even though I have a cell phone, I still worry about missing an urgent call. My smartphone is practically silent most of the time and at night it automatically goes into do not disturb mode between 10pm and 6am so there is no way for me to take urgent calls. My parents would never call my cell phone, they opted for my landline as it was free to call from their phone at home; they use a SIM card paid for with their cell phone to keep costs as low as possible. Finally, at least in the UK, although ISPs offer broadband-only plans, they're still a bit more expensive than getting a landline and broadband together, and if you're paying for a landline, you're better off using it. . right?
The DIY project that changed everything
I could never see my feelings on my landline fade away, but late last year when I decided to redecorate my living room, everything changed. A great job that put the piece out of use for over a month, I removed as much as I could from the piece to make sure it wasn't covered in plaster and paint. My internet connection and landline come into the house in this room and I even had to admit that the house phone was not a necessity so it was offline. The following month, life was… calm. I didn't miss my home phone as much as I thought and found ways to calm my anxiety about missed calls. I gave important contacts VIP status on my iPhone so their calls would still be answered even if my smartphone was on Do Not Disturb, and the benefit of the pandemic was that my parents felt more comfortable with it. Use WhatsApp to call my mobile phone free. They even adopted Alexa to make free calls, even to landlines. The most surprising result was that I was no longer spending my time Googling missed call phone numbers trying to determine if they were important or not, even though I knew deep down that they were still calls, fraud, or scams. However, I did not dare to give up the landline completely. Once the DIY was done, I reconnected the home phone, but I can't remember the last time I picked it up, so it seems my reliance on needing a home phone is finally lessening.