I want an iPhone! and AppleTV!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I'm not quite ready to get rid of my land line. In times of crisis, I trust my land line more than I trust my cell phone. We make sure that wherever we live that we always have a hard-wired (e.g. not cordless) phone. If there is a power outage, we are covered.

Same here, I like having something that's not power-dependent. I was somewhat distressed to learn that the digital phone line we had through Cox at our last place went out with the power. Not enough to do something about it, but when we moved to the new place, we explicitly did not opt for digital phone for that very reason, even if it mean we're paying a few $ more a month.

[Alex]

I was concerned about it for a little while and then realized I am ok with not being able to call 911 at every possible moment. There are times when I've let the phone die or forget it at work and there is no easy way for people to contact us at home and it feels wonderfully quiet and I have a high tolerance for calamity risk I find.

But I only use my phone about 30 minutes per month so it was really a waste to pay for a landline.

You can also buy emergency cell phone batteries that can be stores with other disaster supplies

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

You can also buy emergency cell phone batteries that can be stores with other disaster supplies

The problem with cell phones in power outages isn't the phone batteries, it's the fact that the cell towers are connected to the grid and they out with the power.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

The problem with cell phones in power outages isn't the phone batteries, it's the fact that the cell towers are connected to the grid and they out with the power.

Ya beat me to it.

Additionally, the land-line systems have generator backups as well.

Again, not infallible; just more reliable.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Ya beat me to it.

Additionally, the land-line systems have generator backups as well.

Again, not infallible; just more reliable.

My perception (and it is just that, I have no quantitative evidence) is that localized phone outages are more common than regional power outages.

I've been through a few reasonably large scale blackouts since moving to the Bay Area (including one that took out about 50% of San Francisco for most of a day) and never lost the ability to reach a cell tower with my phone. Before giving up our landline over the years we had several brief outages of phone service in our neighborhood. Many cell sites also have their own backup power supplies (not eternal but then neither are the backup power supplies that the phone compnay would be using as well).

[NirvanaMan]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

The problem with cell phones in power outages isn't the phone batteries, it's the fact that the cell towers are connected to the grid and they out with the power.

Well if there is such an immediate crisis that would force me to make emergency calls while the power also happens to be down...then it is likely that the land lines would be overloaded for calls as well.

I guess I'm willing to take my chances for what I see as such a small improbability...besides...I've got a Range Rover in case of emergency that should get me most anywhere I need to go. And I'll bring the swords and guns just in case.

WOLVERINES!!!!