Slashdot Mirror
VoIP And Cell Phones Eroding Traditional Telecoms
Lullabye_Muse writes "Yahoo! reports that telecoms in Europe and U.S. are losing in response to people switching their home phones for cellphones and dial up to cable modems. More info on specific VoIP discussed in latter part of article. The trend seems to becoming widespread, I guess 10 years and all the old wires are gonna start to be taken down."
Let the telcoms die. I haven't had a land-line phome for 6 months, and I don't miss it.
Of course, cell-phone coverage could be bett--
CALL ENDED
Time: 2:10
I, for one, embrace our new, technology overl... eh, fuck it.
*gasp* businesses adapting to new technology!
I hope your'e not my new neighbor who keeps ordering Pizza deliveries and uses my WiFi! But then I've just ordered one of those cell phone blockers;)
The only reason I believe that the old pots system is here to stay is that it just works. While I have never tried digital telephone through a cable company, I think it requires you have power. I could be wrong so if so, please correct me. With that being said, the pots system worked during an outage. That is incredibly important.
Another reason the land lines will not be going anywhere is that there are some places that wireless phones just do not work. An example of this is in Spring Valley, Ca, which is part of the San Diego County. I had a wireless phone that just would not work in that area. I had verizon at the time, so who knows, it might work now.
Also, remember during 9/11 how the cellphone networks were not prepared for the load? Well, I am fairly sure this would not be a problem for the old pots system. Like before, not positive but pretty sure.
I still have a land line because I use speakeasy DSL. Great ISP by the way.
Brendan
I keep it because its the only line that I know for sure will communicate my address to the 911 operator if I call then pass out from the Kool-Aid before I can tell them my address.
My other computer is a Jacquard loom.
I happen to like my landline service. When I'm gone or sleeping, absolutely no one can annoy me with their problems, requests, or irritating want to keep in touch, just not on a same-room basis. Also, I find there's something irresistably sexy about being completely lost, I might actually have to [gasp] talk to a real person and not a vibrating piece of cancer plastic making friends with and sterilizing my balls. Slashdot probably isn't the correct place to talk about wanting to be disconnected sometimes, but what are YOU going to do about it eh?
-- Checking emails and kicking cheats `till the day I die.
Well I can get a cell phone for as much as my monthly landline service. Why would I bother with a fixed line?
Some people live in areas where the reception is either poor or non-existant. When I did tech support, I talked to every one of them.
Where I live we have to rub two sticks together to make a fire and then shear a passing sheep, spin the wool, weave it into a blanket and use that to make smoke signals to a passing ship asking them to drop off our message the next time they make port.
And you tell that to kids today and they just don't believe you!
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
Fuck, i already sound like my grandfather and at least he got be 50 before he was an ass about everything.
Its the future, things move faster now.
- w00t?