General Chat

My parents never had or wanted a cell phone, even when my siblings thought It was a excellent idea especially when they were out walking 'in the back of beyond'

After Mum died I did get one, but only as a emergency phone. so when I am out I can phone home or more importantly Dad can phone me. or I can phone my sister if we ever end up in the hospital.

We do have a landline, but we also have wireless phones scattered around the house so there is no running to the phone although Mum never did use it, she rather rush right pass the wireless to the one attached to the wall. :-S

You can borrow mine Sylvia. I don't think the drivers ever look at the pictures. :-D

BTW ..............

I know young(er) people who have smart phones and all the gadgets ................ and also have a landline phone

I don't have a bus pass :-D

I have a bus pass. Ergo I am elderly.
Growing old discracefully.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gIZqykrT-A
:-D

Perhaps, Rollo, you could define "elderly".

Rollo loves to give dissertations on any and all topics.

Well, I know young (however that is defined) people with smartphones who get scam calls, scam e-mails and useless calls from providers.
They also pay a lot more per month than I do for my Wi-Fi and landline.
I also don't want to be at the beck and call of everyone so usually give my landline number rather than my (basic) pay as you go mobile..
Prime example yesterday. Friend phoned when I was on the bus. Usually I ask people to call me back on my landline later, but they had a problem.
I could hardly hear them, didn't want to broadcast his problem to the bus, and by the time I'd sympathised and asked him to call back later, I'd missed the particular stop I'd wanted to get off at!

Rollo,
As for less young people using landlines - well if you live in rented accommodation, I agree a mobile is more useful (not tied to the temporary flat etc)
The article you linked didn't seem to think about WHY fewer 'young' people used landlines, but that appears to be the 'thing' nowadays - just spout without forethought.

quite

"the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result."

ibid.

Rollo .............

Thank you for expressing your very personal opinion about what people should be doing and using

However, my opinion is the opposite of yours.

I have absolutely no wish to have a cell phone, and that has nothing whatever to do with my age, income level or infirmity. I just see no reason to be continually connected

If I did have a cell phone, it most certainly would not be right next to my bed as I don't wish to be in permanent reach of other people.

If I did feel that I needed security because of my age or infirmity, I would have a security button that I could immediately push to get help.

Please respect my opinions, likes and dislikes, just as I respect yours.



I did not post this in order for you to start a discussion on the failures of "old people"

I posted it as a warning about a new scam that appears to be occurring, and happening at a time when people might be half asleep and not thinking correctly.



Incidentally .............. the phone rang again this morning at about 7:45 am

Same voice, with the same noises in the background

Voice said "(unintelligible) (OH's initials and surname)?"


I wonder why he hung up immediately after I said coldly and sharply "Why? What do you want" :-D :-D :-D :-D

Whether people do or don't use their landline phone does not matter to me at all. Personally I don't like being cold at home I had quite enough of that as a student.

It is a matter of fact that landlines are preferred by the older people and that this group has been targetted by sophisticated scammers with great success and a lot of financial pain. Given that it is very difficult to id landline scam callers still less to controll them the obvious thing to do is to use a smart phone. With the smart phone setting up closed calling lists, restricting call times and so on is a breeze.

Meanwhile clinging on to the landline is akin to keeping the money in a jar / under the bed and refusing to open a bank account. "There's none so daft as folk"

https://www.cable.co.uk/media-centre/release/british-landline-use-dying-out/

Turning the heating up and wearing fewer clothes would not provide me with any more pockets would it?

We did have a fax machine stuck at the back of the garage until fairly recently, though I don't think it had been used for about 15 years.

I rather like being called outre. It has connotations of eccentricity, though I suspect you were putting a meaning such as "ludicrous" on it.

Rollo, I do respect your knowledge but I also think you may be just a bit of a wind up merchant who knows exactly the reaction he is going to get from some members. Good job we are all different

I am on holiday.

OH says in case of need she keeps her phone close to her chest, no running commentary.

GSM mobile phones have a built in speaker and can be very noisy.

otherwise these can be found in the St Denys flea market

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCAFgDQ34ng
:-D

Some folk cannot afford to have the heating on all the time - that's a personal matter.

Some folk prefer to use their landline - that's a personal choice.

Their choice.........their lives. Respect them.

Having a hearing problem I find the landline with the speaker on is the easiest to hear. And I agree with everything that Vera says. You must realise Rollo that, while we respect your knowledge of computers, it is a little tiring that you have an answer (not always acceptable (re-pockets in clothing)) to everything. Nobody likes a know - all. :-) :-D

have you ever tried putting on the heating - it is January after all.

I have not really considered OH storage arrangements with her mobile but as it is always instantly available they must work ok. I do know she doesn't own any trousers while her jeans are not designed for storage so the matter remains a mystery to me.She did manage to drop it into a tray of hot toffee and it was quite a business getting it back into action. I had to replace the microphone.

Sockets all over the place, pseudo mobile phones ... how very outré. Do you have a fax machine too?

There seems to be a place for both landlines and cell phones. No-one needs to rush to answer a phone anyway. We have several extensions in the main rooms so we are seldom far from a phone. We have an answering machine and, if the caller won't leave a message, then we probably wouldn't want to speak to him. The handsets of modern plug-in landline phones are portable anyway so can be carried from room to room if you wish.

On a lighter note, Rollo has clearly not worn women's clothing much if he thinks you can carry a phone in your pocket. What pocket? I am currently wearing trousers and two jumpers and I do not have a single pocket. Perhaps I should wander around the house with a handbag slung around my neck :-D

I really hate smug people who know absolutely everything about everything on the planet!!

If you wish to speak to me then please call my landline, unless I have asked to you call my mobile on that occasion.

I have NO wish to hold a conversation walking along the road, in the supermarket queue or even driving my car.

At least the landline doesn't run out of money or battery power.

Tesco sells mobile phones (new) for £ 10-20.
There is a big button (not smart) version for about £20.

I would have thought that elderly people could do without rushing to an ancient landline connected by a wire to the socket with the very real risks of a fall only to find a scammer on the line. A phone in the pocket is rather easier.

There are all sorts of ways of beefing up wifi signal indoors at little/no cost. Unfortunately the ISPs show little interest in the matter.

A (smart) mobile can also be connect to apps via the wifi router such as Skype, Snapchat, WhatsApp etc etc. Free. My son when he is here from France uses this mehtod to chat (for hours) to his friends and current girlfriend n France without adding a penny to the bill.

In any case the telcos intend to phase out fixed landlines. They only exist now as a few metres of the local loop and thereafter are virtual. UKGov finds them a good way of taxing people which I think is very unfair.

Cellphones were never designed for rugged terrain or the wide open spaces of North America. However most of such places now have internet sufficient to support local wifi and hence a mobile phone whether or not there is a usabe GSM signal.

EE has a neat little box which plugs into the router. Once installed a mobile phone will have its calls routed over the internet rather than the GSM network. Result is signal strength goes from zero to 4 bars. It is tough getting them to provide one though. It works with Virgin too.