OT: Much of our culture is based upon ...

[capnq]

AgentZero said:

Given how little time the average person spends actually in the home in today's society, one could ask the same question of the ubiquitous land line. Why pay for something that's only going to be available for use 3-4 hours a day, when you can pay roughly the same amount and have the same service available to you, with the added benefit of being free from geographic constraints.

Why should the mythical "average person" restrict the options? I'm at home more than anywhere else, by a significant margin. I can think of no more than three instances in the past two years where having a phone with me would have been useful.

I've never seen a wireless plan advertised that cost less than my current monthly phone bill. And they're always bundled with several additional "services" that I have no use for.

As for dictatorships, you only run into problems with them when the egomaniac in charge starts taking people's complaints as personal insults & reacts accordingly.

In other words, inevitably.

[Renegade 13]

AgentZero said:
Them crazy Europeans are catching on quickly, and on the other side of the pond, the land line is quickly disappearing in favour of the mobile phone. Hell, I lived for Ireland for 6 years and only had a land line for that last 2, and only then because it came bundled free with my internet connection.

Given the fact that the only internet available to me requires a land-line, you can bet that they're gonna be around for quite some time yet...at least until the local phone companies get off their lazy, cheap arses and gets us high-speed internet around here!