kilgore trout: I don’t have the bandwidth or energy to take it up with a couple of common responses like “nobody really needs voice phone anymore” except to ask those commenters to gratefully evaluate the types of fortunate lives they find themselves in where this can be true. it’s not a universal experience.

I don’t have the bandwidth or energy to take it up with a couple of common responses like “nobody really needs voice phone anymore” except to ask those commenters to gratefully evaluate the types of fortunate lives they find themselves in where this can be true. it’s not a universal experience.

I am once again asking you to consider that an entire information ecosystem established as the primary form of communication over a hundred years and allegedly regulated by the federal government was destroyed by scammers virtually overnight and we just don’t, like, ever talk about it

I don't have the option of just "not answering a call from a number I don't know" — there are all sorts of people who might call me for actual work who I've never interacted with before. Which means it sucks even more when it turns out to be a scammer instead of a casting director or publisher.

I would also suggest that if voice calls weren’t so covered in spam, people would rediscover their utility and even pleasure.

Remember when getting a phone call was cool? Remember when the internet wasn’t full of false links?? Why do we live like this?!?

It's 2045, you're having a heart attack, just go to www.iamhavinganemergency. com to leave your email address and we will get back to you within 1 business day.

Rural Arizona would like a word.

I got rid of my landline some years back because I still had one at work🤣. I wanted to save money at home. Had to get one of those VOIP phones because mom's caregivers needed to phone in. Finally ditched that phone because the only calls I was getting were spam calls.

So now I'm down to the cell but it has spotty service because we're in a dead zone cell wise. Next to the 405.

People love to post "This problem doesn't affect me"

The hostility with which my elderly father answers the phone if I'm calling outside of our pre-ordained time every evening tells its own story and makes me sad.

I miss important things now and then because I'm trained to never answer my phone ever thanks to those assholes. Yeah they basically destroyed telephony.

I don't *need* a land line, but it came in handy after a tornado threw a tree into my garage & I had to call a tree service. The land line worked when my cell phone wouldn't. My husband made our VM recording the old "doo-doo-doo you have reached a # that has been disconnected..." to annoy spammers.

I want to live a life free of using the phone, but it's not realistic yet. I don't need to use the phone a lot, but I need it to be there when I do.

People don’t answer email (killed by spam), and won’t answer a phone number they don’t know (maybe a scammer). I’m not in their Slack playpens. Like I’m trying to help some people generate more revenue (and not a crypto scam) but if I can’t get in touch with you so I guess we both just go broke?

I talk with dozens of people a month who cannot figure out how to use zoom, Skype, or teams.

I mostly text my siblings and my son, but I would never want to give up actually talking to them on the phone as well. Have most people stopped doing that? I am genuinely curious.

I’ve been reading all about how well the US economy is doing compared to Europe but my colleague here got one spam call and escalated it up to his mobile phone provider.

Somewhere between Spam faxes and Local Number Portability the wheels just f'in fell off.

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