Can a landline phone be the answer to our problems?
There's one "Secret trick" to making it work, and no one seems to talk about it
I am skeptical about “dumb” technologies that are reinventions of the wheel. Some would call me cynical. Why? Because hardware isn’t our problem. We didn’t melt down landline phones to make iPhones. Landline phones still exist.
But what does NOT exist, is a world that supports landline phones.
Case in point: I unboxed a “dumb” landline phone that I received for free, and my child’s first question was “who can I call?” My answer? No one. They could call grandparents, and that was it. They had no friends with homes with a landline.
“Oh that’s why you get a bunch of families to go in on it together!” you’re thinking. Yeah, that will work…for a while.
But it won’t work forever. And here is why:
Landline phones “worked” to be our main form of communication, because they were the main form of communication for Everyone. Adults and kids alike used the same utility, sometimes in the same way and sometimes in different ways.
The only way a landline is actually going to stave off smartphones in a long-term way, is if everyone in the home is using them. If they are something only the children are using, then the landline isn’t a “real” phone, it’s a “kid” version of a real phone, because adults are continuing to only use the “real” version (a smartphone).
Think about cities with robust public and alternative transit versus car-centric cities. If I raise my child using bikes and public transit to get around, they are engaging with the same transit that I am as an adult- they are invited into the “real” world in the same way as me. But if they are in a car-centric world, if I hand them a bike and a bus pass they’re still going to ask when they’re getting a car.
And of course, this brings us to the real issue: the world has moved on. We might love the idea of using a landline at home, but between texts, WhatsApp, apps that we use to conduct vital domestic and invisible labor at home, it just isn’t always feasible. Much as we might love creating this diorama of the past for our kids to exist in, it isn’t actually a long term solution.
So, if you want a landline, get a landline. Don’t pay for kitschy startup subscriptions, btw: find a landline phone hiding in a closet somewhere, and contact your local VOIP provider (Ooma always you to have “allow only” call lists and costs $10/month). But don’t think it’ll be the same as when we were kids: true landline phones using copper wire are almost nonexistent (and is being phased out) in the US, so your only option is internet based and won’t work when the power is off.
While you have good points, we have had a “landline” phone since 2020 and I would rate it a huge success and worth the $10/month we pay for the line. 1. The kids have memorized both my cell phone number and their dad’s number (great if they have an emergency away from home, they know how to reach us or tell someone else how to) 2. The kids call their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and our neighborhood friends landline and/or their parents cell phones regularly. They also get calls from these people and it is helping deepen these relationships. It comes in super handy when we need to talk to one of our kids at the neighbors but we don’t want to bother the adult. Everyone can hear the phone ringing and the kids run to answer. 3. They are learning phone etiquette which is also translating into face to face etiquette. 4. I have been able to leave the house for short periods of time and my kids can reach me without having to give them a screen. 5. If there was an emergency they can call 911 without having to unlock a grown ups phone or bypass the lock. Will we have it forever? No. Will we eventually give them cellphones? Yes. But we’re almost 6 years in and I predict it will serve 3 kids well for another 2-3 years, while we build skills to get them ready for actual cell phones/smart phones.
I don’t know whether I totally agree here, Ash. I get your points and agree that the functionality is limited while uptake is limited. But I *think* my 10yo is excited about our landline because they want to talk to their friends and this is the only option for that. I don’t really think it’s because they want to be in on the adult world in the abstract, but to have this specific form of freedom/independence they don’t otherwise have any access to. It’s 100% true that they need others to call, but that’s coming — some are getting their own phones, some are getting landlines. It won’t ultimately replace the desire for a mobile phone ever, but my hope is a significant delay and that’s worth it for me.