I mean, I suppose we could all have continued to use our horses to take us on short trips to the store, saving wear-and-tear on our more expensive cars.

I haven't had a land-line phone in years, for the following reasons: 1) even a basic phone line was $30 a month, and if you wanted nifty features like caller ID, then it was extra, 2) Cell service got cheaper even while they threw in more-and-more features with so many minutes that overages are difficult to achieve, 3) no long distance bills, 4) it worked both from my house and away from it. Cell phones made land-lines obsolete; it wasn't the economy that did it.

I still don't know that land lines are obsolete. I find cell phones tend not to be nearly as clear as land lines except under almost perfect conditions, and I like not having to baby sit my land line (i.e. forgeting to recharge the cell). I've rarely ever lost land line service (even after big storms) while I've lost cell service in perfectly clear weather. I have friends who have discarded their land line, but that just isn't for me at this time, and I suspect for millions of other Americans. Maybe someday, but it will be a few years. Now, when I lived in Korea I only had a cell phone, but I found them to be much superior there in both clarity and coverage.

And if gas prices keep rising, horses just might become a viable alternative to our cars. I can see the campaign ads now: "A stable in every yard..."

If there's a long power outage, you should have a basic telephone that only needs to plug into a jack. Cell phones do have to be charged, and if, as happened a couple of times when we lived in Texas, a storm knocks out the power for three or four days, you could be screwed if you need to call for help.

We live in Chicago now, and even though someone posted that most cell phone have GPS in them, only the cell phone provider can access it in this city. If you call 911 on a cell phone here, you might as well be in Siberia - no one knows where the heck you are. Vonage also has NO 911 service here. I ask about that whenever their call centers start phoning to harass me into buying their service.

Where I live, both telephone and power lines are delievered overhead. The one time we had a long power outage was during an ice storm in 2001, and then we lost both phone lines and electrical together. I didn't have a cell phone, then, but would have been better off if I had. Obviously a person can't prepare for every eventuality.

If the phone company offered a land line for $5 a month, I might keep it around just for a back up.

This dates me terribly, but it used to be that there was such a thing as "soft" telephone service. If you didn't have a land line set up, plugging in a telephone would allow you to call 911, but that's all. It was mainly used when people were moving. If it was going to take a few days to hook up the phone, then they could at least yell for help in the meantime.

This was in Canada, though....smart, no?

I've never tried it, but I've heard that you can dial 911 from any cell phone, whether it has service or not, and will still get through to emergency services. I'd have to try it on an old cell phone to know for sure, I guess.

I keep a land line for a few reasons. But one of the best features is that I use that number for all those mundane personal business contacts, and let my answering machine serve as my personal assistant during the workday. That way I'm not annoyed by my dentists office calling to remind me of my appointment next week, and so on.

My mobile number is just for work and close friends. It helps me stay focused at work.

Because I bundle with my cable and internet, the cost is minimal, and well worth it to me.

Not a problem for me. I have a highly mobile gasoline generator that I often use to quickly charge my phone. Everyone should have one.

"I've never tried it, but I've heard that you can dial 911 from any cell phone, whether it has service or not, and will still get through to emergency services. I'd have to try it on an old cell phone to know for sure, I guess."

This is true - if you've ever tried to use a cellphone that doesn't have service, you'll generally get a message saying that you can use the calls for emergency purposes only. My dad keeps a super-antiquated giant-block motorola phone from the early 90s in his jeep, that hasn't had service for years, because if he needed to, he could still use it to dial 911 (it gets power from the car, so it's a backup if his normal cellphone died).