In A Parking Lot At 10PM Praying For A Connection

[sannwood]

I was reading an article today at Small Business Trends about the frustrations of being without a home internet connection. It's a great article written by guest writer, Deborah Brown, and she has a great sense of humor, too.

But in it, she shares her experiences over a ten day period of being without a home internet connection and bouncing from place to place for a connection. She even managed to find herself in an empty coffee house parking lot at 10PM hoping that the connection would reach.

I don't wish that on anyone - especially anyone who works online for a living. There's some good discussion over there on just exactly how much we rely on new technologies. One topic in particular that was brought up was the decision to rid yourself of a landline in your home and rely on cell phones.

Well, now you just opened another can of worms. I was just talking with my son last night about the pros and cons of getting rid of the house land line. No one calls it - we all have cell phones.

Are we moving toward a society where we just use high tech - are land lines a thing of the past? If so, what happens when we have a situation like Ivana just described?

Technology is taking over. It reminds me of the movie “The Blob.”

So tell us - what crazy situations have you found yourself in to get connected? And what do you think - are we too dependable nowadays?

[Old Welsh Guy]

I have run around the city looking for a hotel connection before now.

I also can never be without a network at home. I am with Orange, and when we had a problem with them a while back, I just did a search and could connect via my neighbours connections. I had 3 to choose from

I did'nt know who owned what, so I dropped into the conversation about broadband and who they all used . We got there in the end .

[Sporkman]

Interestingly re eschewing land lines for cell phones, I've read that some developing countries are bypassing the significant cost of building landline infrastructure & going straight to cellphone use exclusively.

[Anita]

Originally Posted by Sporkman

Interestingly re eschewing land lines for cell phones, I've read that some developing countries are bypassing the significant cost of building landline infrastructure & going straight to cellphone use exclusively.

Yes, in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe cell phones (or mobiles phones as they call them) are much more prevalent than wired phones.

In the United States I know people who exclusively use cell phones now and do not have landlines for their homes.

In my business cell phones are our main phones.

[sannwood]

I, myself, do not rely solely on cell phones. They cannot be truly relied upon. They need recharged, service can be interrupted and voice quality lacks in my opinion.

Maybe in a few more years I'll feel diferently, but not right now. If there were an emergency in your home and your cell was down - what then?

[Sporkman]

Originally Posted by sannwood

I, myself, do not rely solely on cell phones. They cannot be truly relied upon. They need recharged, service can be interrupted and voice quality lacks in my opinion.

Maybe in a few more years I'll feel diferently, but not right now. If there were an emergency in your home and your cell was down - what then?

Agreed - plus you are stuck with one phone (which may be in a different room, possibly on a different floor), whereas you can have multiple landline phones.

[pete]

Originally Posted by sannwood

I, myself, do not rely solely on cell phones. They cannot be truly relied upon. They need recharged, service can be interrupted and voice quality lacks in my opinion.

Been there, done that. Days with no power following a hurricane. Land lines were more dependable that cells.

And $ 500 roaming fees because your cell provider is down, but another picks it up can add up quickly.

10 days with no power from the power company, 2 days with no cable or phone. With a generator was back in business in 2 days.

Anyone in business without a land line is just playing business.

(BTW, I've spent many hours in parking lots waiting for another type of connection)
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