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I haven't answered the phone in years. All calls from unknown numbers go straight to silent, and anyone in my contacts knows not to call me anyway. What kind of

I haven't answered the phone in years. All calls from unknown numbers go straight to silent, and anyone in my contacts knows not to call me anyway. What kind of real person uses the phone nowadays? It's literally scams, customer support, billing departments, credit collection agencies, and generally people you don't talk to as long as you can avoid it. Normal people use FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, etc. There's basically zero upside to phone calls, and frankly nor is there much for SMS either. I would suggest that phone companies completely deprecate their telecom networks and go all-in on internet, but then the spam would migrate to the apps (it's already begun with whatsapp), so I don't want to give them any ideas.

beebeepka 3y ago
This reads like sarcasm to me. I barely use my phone, yet calls is 99% of what I do. I get less than 5 unsolicited calls per year. Don't use any of the things your imaginary "normal people" use. What a weird thought process. I guess the world does revolve around you
- TechBro8615 3y ago
  What do you mean calls is 99% of what you do? For work? Doesn't that just prove my point? You're not using the phone system for personal calls. You must work somewhere doing outbound calls for some reason or receiving them for another. And yes, I would include sales in this classification.
  - ryandrake 3y ago
    I'm with you. My Phone app is probably the least-used app on my phone, because pretty much all inbound calls are unwanted. I occasionally need to make an outbound call so my Phone app usage is not quite zero.
  - vel0city 3y ago
    I have a lot of somewhat tech illiterate family which I communicate with regulaly who pretty much only care to SMS and regular phone calls. Before Signal dropped SMS support I had managed to get a number of them on Signal, but dropping SMS really confused most of them so they dropped it. I also participate in a lot of local groups where the least common denominator is usually phone/SMS for quick comms. I refuse to use Meta products outside a privacy container on my computer so no Facebook Messenger/WhatsApp on my phone.
  - beebeepka 3y ago
    Holy mother of presumptions! How the hell am I proving your point when I say I use my personal (don't have any other) phone for nothing but calls and the occasional SMS?
    - TechBro8615 3y ago
      Relax. There'd be no need for presumptions if you wrote more clearly than "phone calls is 99% of what I do," unless you're suggesting it's a reasonable presumption that you spend 99% of your personal time on the phone, or that "what I do" doesn't colloquially mean "for work."
Amasuriel 3y ago
This seems like either a regional and/or phase of life difference. As a homeowner in Canada for example, I often have need to find contractors for home items for example, like I just replaced a few windows. Most of those businesses do not operate primarily (or at all) over email or sms so leaving phone messages and receiving calls from unknown numbers is normal. Investment firms also generally need occasional contact etc. So I guess all I’m saying (as someone who would rather use text whenever possible) is that there is still many legitimate use cases for receiving phone calls.
ericksoa 3y ago
This. 99/100 calls I get are someone trying to sell me something worthless.
jaclaz 3y ago
>Normal people use FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, etc. I must be abnormal.
hnarn 3y ago
> I haven't answered the phone in years. I’m not trying to sound snide, but maybe you’ve not had many major life events during a few years? If you move to a new house or apartment for example, you might quickly find that the luxury of not taking any calls quickly leads to missed appointments and extra paperwork. I know this because when I moved last time, phone calls started pouring in from electricians, movers, landlords and who knows what else. The entire project would have been impossible without answering a regular phone call.
jjav 3y ago
> What kind of real person uses the phone nowadays? Tell me you have no kids without telling me you have no kids. > Normal people use FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, etc. What? No. Just call me on my phone. The actual phone, landline. You can call me on my cellphone but I'm not answering, leave a message. I might check it someday. You will never reach me on these proprietary third party walled-garden apps. I don't do proprietary.

beebeepka 3y ago

This reads like sarcasm to me. I barely use my phone, yet calls is 99% of what I do. I get less than 5 unsolicited calls per year. Don't use any of the things your imaginary "normal people" use. What a weird thought process. I guess the world does revolve around you

TechBro8615 3y ago
What do you mean calls is 99% of what you do? For work? Doesn't that just prove my point? You're not using the phone system for personal calls. You must work somewhere doing outbound calls for some reason or receiving them for another. And yes, I would include sales in this classification.
- ryandrake 3y ago
  I'm with you. My Phone app is probably the least-used app on my phone, because pretty much all inbound calls are unwanted. I occasionally need to make an outbound call so my Phone app usage is not quite zero.
- vel0city 3y ago
  I have a lot of somewhat tech illiterate family which I communicate with regulaly who pretty much only care to SMS and regular phone calls. Before Signal dropped SMS support I had managed to get a number of them on Signal, but dropping SMS really confused most of them so they dropped it. I also participate in a lot of local groups where the least common denominator is usually phone/SMS for quick comms. I refuse to use Meta products outside a privacy container on my computer so no Facebook Messenger/WhatsApp on my phone.
- beebeepka 3y ago
  Holy mother of presumptions! How the hell am I proving your point when I say I use my personal (don't have any other) phone for nothing but calls and the occasional SMS?
  - TechBro8615 3y ago
    Relax. There'd be no need for presumptions if you wrote more clearly than "phone calls is 99% of what I do," unless you're suggesting it's a reasonable presumption that you spend 99% of your personal time on the phone, or that "what I do" doesn't colloquially mean "for work."

Amasuriel 3y ago

This seems like either a regional and/or phase of life difference. As a homeowner in Canada for example, I often have need to find contractors for home items for example, like I just replaced a few windows. Most of those businesses do not operate primarily (or at all) over email or sms so leaving phone messages and receiving calls from unknown numbers is normal. Investment firms also generally need occasional contact etc. So I guess all I’m saying (as someone who would rather use text whenever possible) is that there is still many legitimate use cases for receiving phone calls.

ericksoa 3y ago

This. 99/100 calls I get are someone trying to sell me something worthless.

jaclaz 3y ago

>Normal people use FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, etc. I must be abnormal.

hnarn 3y ago

> I haven't answered the phone in years. I’m not trying to sound snide, but maybe you’ve not had many major life events during a few years? If you move to a new house or apartment for example, you might quickly find that the luxury of not taking any calls quickly leads to missed appointments and extra paperwork. I know this because when I moved last time, phone calls started pouring in from electricians, movers, landlords and who knows what else. The entire project would have been impossible without answering a regular phone call.

jjav 3y ago

> What kind of real person uses the phone nowadays? Tell me you have no kids without telling me you have no kids. > Normal people use FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, etc. What? No. Just call me on my phone. The actual phone, landline. You can call me on my cellphone but I'm not answering, leave a message. I might check it someday. You will never reach me on these proprietary third party walled-garden apps. I don't do proprietary.