[Lorric]

Home phones still exist?

Everyone has one, don't they? At least in my World they do. Everyone I know has a home phone number, with one exception. This is in England. It's much cheaper than calls on a mobile.

[BloodEagle]

Home phones still exist?

Yup.

They come in handy during power outages / cellular spikes.

[AdmiralRalwood]

Home phones still exist?

* AdmiralRalwood looks at his home phone, sitting within grabbing distance.

Yyyup.

[Scotty]

I think that whole little conversation illustrates perfectly how some of us are so, dare I say it, out of touch with the modern consumer.  We're effectively on the cutting edge, compared to your layman consumer of electronic entertainment, and I'm certain that skews our viewpoints significantly.

[Mongoose]

Yeah, definitely.  Just as one example, I'm still using what has to be a 7-year-old dumb phone, because I have no interest in or need for a smartphone.  Just about anything I could do on one could be done far better on my (also ancient) PC.  But I'm obviously in the small minority on this when compared to the general public.

[TwentyPercentCooler]

Yeah, definitely.  Just as one example, I'm still using what has to be a 7-year-old dumb phone, because I have no interest in or need for a smartphone.  Just about anything I could do on one could be done far better on my (also ancient) PC.  But I'm obviously in the small minority on this when compared to the general public.

Yeah, I definitely don't think we're representative of the "average" consumer.

****, I don't even have a cell phone. Got rid of mine a few months ago. Don't miss it.

[Lorric]

because I have no interest in or need for a smartphone.

Ditto. My phone is a phone. That is all I want it to be so that is all it is.

[Fury]

Here in Finland landline phones at homes are pretty much extinct. Even at workplaces landline phones are becoming rare, except in cases where your job is to either call or receive calls in your cubicle. Like service desk, call center or phone marketer.

Didn't check this for a fact, but I think I read somewhere that landline phones now cost more than mobiles in Finland.

[Luis Dias]

Of course that anything you can do on a smartphone you can do on a pc. Doh.

That's like saying one has no need for a car because the lorry you have on your garage does the same ****.

Can you carry your pc in your pocket though? Can you skim twitter whenever and wherever you are with just a touch on a screen rather than having to turn on your pc and wait several minutes till you get to open your browser at home?

[Lorric]

Of course that anything you can do on a smartphone you can do on a pc. Doh.

That's like saying one has no need for a car because the lorry you have on your garage does the same ****.

Can you carry your pc in your pocket though? Can you skim twitter whenever and wherever you are with just a touch on a screen rather than having to turn on your pc and wait several minutes till you get to open your browser at home?

I don't know about Mongoose, but I don't do Twitter.

I much prefer to carry a good book around with me when I'm out.

[The E]

I don't know about Mongoose, but I don't do Twitter.

I much prefer to carry a good book around with me when I'm out.

I do twitter. And I also like to carry a few good books around with me. Good thing my smartphone can handle both.

[Lorric]

I'm not gonna get one.

BTW, I'm going out soon, and The Ghost Brigades is coming with me.

[Spoon]

Of course that anything you can do on a smartphone you can do on a pc. Doh.

That's like saying one has no need for a car because the lorry you have on your garage does the same ****.

Can you carry your pc in your pocket though? Can you skim twitter whenever and wherever you are with just a touch on a screen rather than having to turn on your pc and wait several minutes till you get to open your browser at home?

I'm not addicted to social media so I don't have to be able to skim twitter or facebook or whatever whenever I feel the urge coming. Also, my PC has a SSD, I can open my browser within the minute after hitting the power button.

In short, my phone is ****ing ancient and it does everything I need it to. If I go anywhere I take my laptop with me, because I can actually type things worth a damn to fill my time with. Not so on a 'smart'phone.

(what was this topic about again?)

[Luis Dias]

I'm talking about convenience, of course you had to bring some kind of psychological mud into the equation, the "urge". Whatever.

[Lorric]

Yay for "dumbphones" and house phones!

[karajorma]

You really have to love the neo-luddism this thread is bringing out.

[FlamingCobra]

Home phones still exist?

Yup.

They come in handy during power outages / cellular spikes.

That doesn't always work. During a power outage at my house our cordless phone won't work, but our old corded housephone and rotary phone still works.

[Luis Dias]

The funny thing is that our grandparent's generation would all laugh hysterically at the notion of a guy "just" having a dumb phone in his pocket as some kind of evidence of being "not urgy" or "addicted" to social gathering.

[Polpolion]

Yeah, definitely.  Just as one example, I'm still using what has to be a 7-year-old dumb phone, because I have no interest in or need for a smartphone.  Just about anything I could do on one could be done far better on my (also ancient) PC.  But I'm obviously in the small minority on this when compared to the general public.

This is easily the worst argument to not get a smartphone I've ever seen. For this to be even somewhat credible you'd need to literally never leave your home. If you did, you'd need to tell me that smartphones are not worth the money. Yes, they're expensive, and it's totally legit to not want to get one because you don't think you'd get your money's worth out of it. But telling me that smartphones are unnecessary because you have your PC? Total bull****. You're not going to carry your computer to the grocery store so you can look up a replacement when they don't have tamarind paste, and you're probably not going to pull out your laptop for that either (this is all assuming you can find wifi, or have some sort of expensive cellular dataplan for your PC anyway, obviously). And for the people who prefer to carry around physical books, you're not going to lug around a 20 volume encyclopedia on the bus or keep it in your trunk so you can look something up on a whim (forgetting the fact that when you leave home you're almost never doing nothing but sitting in your car or on the bus).

[Spoon]

So aggressive! Such poor reading comprehension! Better read Mongoose's post again before you go on a rampage about things he didnt say.

I'm talking about convenience, of course you had to bring some kind of psychological mud into the equation, the "urge". Whatever.

Oh yes, 'of course'. 
Whatever.