Has the time finally come for you to drop your old telephone landline, save a few bucks and depend only on your mobile phone?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Still have a landline? How to get rid of it (even if you're concerned about emergencies!)
Teens today will probably never understand the world of rotary phones. It would be hard to explain that you had to know a phone number by heart and then dial it by spinning a circle back and forth. Thankfully, those phones are nowhere to be seen now. But the humble landline is still in use.
With technology making mobility so much easier, is there a reason to hold on to a landline? Tap or click here for the best smartphone alternatives to Apple and Samsung.
Having a landline used to have one big advantage: when you called 911, they knew exactly where you were. If that is your only fear of ditching the old, corded phone, you needn’t worry. The technology used in smartphones today can pinpoint a fly on a donkey’s nose.
Here’s the backstory
Millennials won’t even think twice about getting a landline, and teenagers won’t be sure if the seemingly archaic technology is still around. It would mostly be the older generation that still has corded telephones in the house.
There are advantages to having a landline, but those can quickly be mitigated through simple technological solutions. Landlines aren’t subject to power outages and generally have a more stable connection.
But when changing to a mobile phone, it would be a good idea to keep a small and inexpensive portable charger on hand.
“Landlines never need recharging. That’s why I recommend keeping a small portable recharger handy. They cost only $20 to $50. And with that, my recommendation is that you’re safe dropping the landline, keeping your smartphone nearby, and pocketing the extra savings,” Kim explained on a recent podcast episode.
Landlines are becoming more expensive
What you save in the convenience of never charging your landline, you can easily lose simply through monthly costs. AARP did some investigating and found that landline costs have steadily been increasing. In some areas, it was more expensive to have a landline than a mobile phone.
“A single basic line from Verizon in New York City, where it is based, can cost $85 a month. Meanwhile, as landline costs have, wireless costs in the same 10-year period have decreased by 20 percent,” AARP wrote in a blog post.
Another expense that most users don’t factor in is when something goes wrong. If a landline gets damaged or the mainline gets cut, it can take weeks or months to complete repairs. This would leave you without any form of communication.
5 ways to block or hide your number when making calls
Robocalls have been an annoyance for years, and with technology constantly advancing, it’s only going to get worse. And they’re not just interruptions these days. Many are calls from scammers looking to rip you off.
That’s why it’s important to be proactive and stop these calls dead in their tracks. You have several clever ways to keep scams and robocalls at bay. Tap or click here to stop robocalls for good. How are these callers getting ahold of your number in the first place?
🪦 RIP landlines: AT&T is cutting the cord on copper landline connections by the end of 2029. Only about 5% of customers still use ‘em, and broadband should cover 50 million locations by then. I’m required to have a landline at our house because Phoenix city code says we have an elevator. I never understood that logic.
Built-in phone settings that could save your life
In these troubled times, when we’re dealing with a pandemic and protests compounded with the usual risks of accidents and crime, your smartphone can be your emergency notifier.
Sure, you know about AAA for your car. Tap or click here for a free app you can use to replace AAA.
7 steps you can take now to lower your internet bill
Your social media feeds are no doubt clogged with hoaxes and misinformation that spread all too easily. Tap or click here for rumors going around Facebook, so you don’t get tricked into sharing them.
On the other hand, your bank account is feeling the strain from all those streaming services you’ve signed up for. Tap or click here for the money-saving advice the streaming services don’t want you to know.
Block your number when making calls
Before the onslaught of the pandemic, you probably didn’t use your smartphone to make phone calls very much. Now, carriers are reporting surges in calls as we seek more personal connections while following social distancing guidelines.
7 steps to lower your internet bill
COVID-19 has drastically slashed most Americans’ budgets, and we’re all starting to feel the squeeze. More than 700,000 jobs were lost in March alone, and some analysts believe we’ll hit a national unemployment rate of 20% by June.
Apple Pay vs. Samsung Pay vs. Google Pay: Which is better?
Technology has replaced a lot of things we used to take for granted, like landline phones, typewriters, and paper maps. But a lot of people are still carrying around something that tech companies would like to consign to history: wallets. Most of us now have access to an alternative to an old-fashioned wallet. The big three options for mobile payment systems are Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. They all turn your smartphone (or certain smartwatches) into a mobile wallet, letting you pay for purchases without having to fish out a credit card or cash.