International

Ever since Alexander Graham Bell magically transmitted his voice into the back room of his science lab, home landlines have been an immovable fixture in the American home. But more and more, some people are cancelling their landlines and letting their cell phones do double duty. Recently, Ivan Seidenberg, the chief executive of Verizon Communications, told a group of investors that the home landline is a thing of the past. He told the group that his company is already making plans to reorganize itself to address this growing defection from the home landline. But as Mark Twain once commented on the premature publication of his own obituary, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” So before you cut the cord to the trusty home phone, consider the following: Many families have eliminated their landlines only to return to reconnect a few months later. There are lots of reasons why this trial separation simply isn’t working out. Reasons people are coming back to their landline (more…)