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Land line phones are more expensive, and require a stable address; public phones are scarce and getting scarcer. Mobile phones are a necessity.

ryanmercer 7y ago
You don't need a phone 24/7/265. As far as cost, looks like land line service is 15-30$ a month with things like caller ID, call waiting and voicemail. That's generally much cheaper than any mobile phone with a data plan and doesn't require a phone that costs hundreds of dollars. Even MVNO solutions like Mint start at 45$ every three months before tax and sim shipping. You also don't need payphones to be abundant, From 1990 to 1999 (ages 5-14) I used a payphone maybe a dozen times and nearly all of those were to have discussions with friends that I didn't want my parents to hear so I rode my bike 2 blocks to Little Caesars and used the phone in their parking lot. And I don't think a single time after that yet I didn't have a cellphone until 2004. I still rarely talk on the phone, I will go months without using a single minute. I will listen to voicemails a few times a week but I will either go see the person or if it is a business I need to call back I'll do so at my convenience, not when they want to talk to me.
- dmitriid 7y ago
  A person on the internet is arguing that a landline with caller ID, call waiting and voicemail is sufficient. > You also don't need payphones to be abundant, From 1990 to 1999 (ages 5-14) I used a payphone maybe a dozen times and nearly all of those were to have discussions with friends that I didn't want my parents to hear so I rode my bike 2 blocks to Little Caesars Ah yes. The needs of a child/teen are surely the needs of a grown person who will need to communicate with potential employers, banks, landlords, schools etc. which are all becoming almost exclusively online.
  - ryanmercer 7y ago
    >Ah yes. The needs of a child/teen are surely the needs of a grown person who will need to communicate with potential employers, banks, landlords, schools etc. I've been working, taxable above the board income (google it, lots of conditions for this including paper delivery which is what I did), since I was 12 years old. I've had a bank account since I was 8. There is no realistic condition where the majority of the population needs to be tethered to a phone number 24/7/365. If you have a job that requires you to be on call, certainly, but in that case your employer should be providing the phone or reimbursing the cost. Generally people in these situations are paid rather well also.
    - rland 7y ago
      Things have changed a lot for many low wage workers since about 08 or so. Schedules are set no more than a few days in advance. They're communicated either by an app or by text message. They can be highly variable and it's expected that the employee keep up, or else miss a shift and be fired. A cell phone is virtually required. (And never provided by the employer).
    - dmitriid 7y ago
      You somehow missed bothe the last 15 years or so, and the most important bits of my response. The world is increasingly online. Banks are closing down branches because most things can be done online. Schools are sending school reports and teacher communications via email. Job applications for high(er) paying jobs are becoming almost exclusively done via online forms. Ongoing communication with recruiters is being done via email. Doctors increasingly communicate through email. More importantly, classes and courses, distance learning, tutors (that is all the things you need to educate yourself and get a better job) are almost exclusively online now (and once online, available and affordable to anyone). But yeah. If you are a 12-year-old paper delivery boy, you will not need a smart phone and internet. Edit: your hypocrisy is especially rich considering that you're applying to YC Winter 2019 [1]. You're sending them via a fixed landline from Little Ceasars where you biked, right? [1] https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-letter-to-yc https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-... (Your site is in your profile).
      - ryanmercer 7y ago
        >Edit: your hypocrisy is especially rich considering that you're applying to YC Winter 2019 Less than 1 tenth of 1 percent of the population applies to YC each year... and what I applied with was literally to help people give up technology and to plug in to the real world. To not be tethered to a phone 24/7, to not be tethered to streaming video with every second of their free time, to not be tethered to a computer or laptop 24 hours a day. To talk to people instead of texting them or instant messaging them. To look people in the face instead of occasionally glancing up over the rim of their laptop and actually have proper conversations. But please, tell me more about me!

ryanmercer 7y ago

You don't need a phone 24/7/265. As far as cost, looks like land line service is 15-30$ a month with things like caller ID, call waiting and voicemail. That's generally much cheaper than any mobile phone with a data plan and doesn't require a phone that costs hundreds of dollars. Even MVNO solutions like Mint start at 45$ every three months before tax and sim shipping. You also don't need payphones to be abundant, From 1990 to 1999 (ages 5-14) I used a payphone maybe a dozen times and nearly all of those were to have discussions with friends that I didn't want my parents to hear so I rode my bike 2 blocks to Little Caesars and used the phone in their parking lot. And I don't think a single time after that yet I didn't have a cellphone until 2004. I still rarely talk on the phone, I will go months without using a single minute. I will listen to voicemails a few times a week but I will either go see the person or if it is a business I need to call back I'll do so at my convenience, not when they want to talk to me.

dmitriid 7y ago
A person on the internet is arguing that a landline with caller ID, call waiting and voicemail is sufficient. > You also don't need payphones to be abundant, From 1990 to 1999 (ages 5-14) I used a payphone maybe a dozen times and nearly all of those were to have discussions with friends that I didn't want my parents to hear so I rode my bike 2 blocks to Little Caesars Ah yes. The needs of a child/teen are surely the needs of a grown person who will need to communicate with potential employers, banks, landlords, schools etc. which are all becoming almost exclusively online.
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  >Ah yes. The needs of a child/teen are surely the needs of a grown person who will need to communicate with potential employers, banks, landlords, schools etc. I've been working, taxable above the board income (google it, lots of conditions for this including paper delivery which is what I did), since I was 12 years old. I've had a bank account since I was 8. There is no realistic condition where the majority of the population needs to be tethered to a phone number 24/7/365. If you have a job that requires you to be on call, certainly, but in that case your employer should be providing the phone or reimbursing the cost. Generally people in these situations are paid rather well also.
  - rland 7y ago
    Things have changed a lot for many low wage workers since about 08 or so. Schedules are set no more than a few days in advance. They're communicated either by an app or by text message. They can be highly variable and it's expected that the employee keep up, or else miss a shift and be fired. A cell phone is virtually required. (And never provided by the employer).
  - dmitriid 7y ago
    You somehow missed bothe the last 15 years or so, and the most important bits of my response. The world is increasingly online. Banks are closing down branches because most things can be done online. Schools are sending school reports and teacher communications via email. Job applications for high(er) paying jobs are becoming almost exclusively done via online forms. Ongoing communication with recruiters is being done via email. Doctors increasingly communicate through email. More importantly, classes and courses, distance learning, tutors (that is all the things you need to educate yourself and get a better job) are almost exclusively online now (and once online, available and affordable to anyone). But yeah. If you are a 12-year-old paper delivery boy, you will not need a smart phone and internet. Edit: your hypocrisy is especially rich considering that you're applying to YC Winter 2019 [1]. You're sending them via a fixed landline from Little Ceasars where you biked, right? [1] https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-letter-to-yc https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/10/30/an-open-... (Your site is in your profile).
    - ryanmercer 7y ago
      >Edit: your hypocrisy is especially rich considering that you're applying to YC Winter 2019 Less than 1 tenth of 1 percent of the population applies to YC each year... and what I applied with was literally to help people give up technology and to plug in to the real world. To not be tethered to a phone 24/7, to not be tethered to streaming video with every second of their free time, to not be tethered to a computer or laptop 24 hours a day. To talk to people instead of texting them or instant messaging them. To look people in the face instead of occasionally glancing up over the rim of their laptop and actually have proper conversations. But please, tell me more about me!