We live in the digital age of smartphones making home telephones, also known as wireline services, obsolete. In a study done with 15,000 households in the United States, over 60% of adults are now exclusively using mobile phones. But just because more adults are opting for wireless cell phones and they are clearly more convenient, doesn’t mean they’re inherently better across the board. In this article, we’ll go over some of the drawbacks of using a wireless telephone service exclusively, and how reframing this technological advancement shows some serious issues that wireless phones bring into our lives.
Going wireless - Solution or the problem?
Deciding to drop your landline may seem like the obvious choice, it’s certainly more convenient and allows us to be reachable at all hours day or night, but that’s also the problem. These days people are sleeping with their cell phones and unable to unplug, even for just an evening.
Safety and privacy are issues that cell phones fail in comparison to landlines. Wireless phones require charging, and in an emergency, you don’t want to have a dead cell phone battery. Landlines are more reliable as they don’t require service or charging, so if you have any safety issues, be that an intruder or a storm that knocks out a cell tower nearby, landlines provide the option for remedying the situation quickly.
With cell phones, users receive scam texts, emails, and calls with spyware attached giving cybercriminals a look into everything from your banking information to your personal correspondence. Hackings and cybercrime are rising at terrifying rates each year, and landlines provide more safety as it’s not attached to your computer or bank. Hackers still can tap your landline but often don’t because there is less information to be gained.
So it poses the question: is the convenience of wireless home telephone service worth the risk of losing your privacy and maybe even your safety?
Wireless phones are far more expensive for the user, and because it’s becoming a necessity for most jobs and normal everyday life, companies like Apple and Verizon are charging more each year. If you have an internet service provider, it’s reasonably priced and sometimes even free to add a landline. For the reasons mentioned above, it may be worth having a landline, at least in addition to your mobile wireless phone, if not instead.
Wireless service provides users with the ability to work from home, or anywhere in the world, but that means that you don’t have a place or time to unplug and rest from the onslaught of stimulus that social media, texts, calls, and emails bring. There is a lot of research out there that shows that mobile phones can cause issues with sleep which can manifest as depression and anxiety. The blue light that cell phones produce can suppress melatonin, which is a hormone that our body needs to maintain a healthy sleep cycle.
Home telephone service is disappearing for modern culture and society, but as it disappears so does our privacy, our solace, and our money. For all these reasons and more, it may be worth it to unplug the cell phone and opt for a home telephone service instead.
And this leads us to the next question: if you can let go of your wireless phone, what would you like to unplug next?
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