Going Wireless The Old Fashioned Way
But the 1984 telephone deregulation flooded the market with new phones and services. We soon adopted touch-tone models and hung one in the kitchen. With its 25-foot cord, Mary could glide through chores with phone to ear, a necessity for a bustling household. As a bonus, the dangling cord never ceased to amuse our cats.
Technology advanced until a cordless model seemed the perfect convenience. Without wires, we could chat anywhere in the house--even in the yard. But wherever we stopped talking, the phone might be set down and forgotten. And the battery developed the irritating knack of expiring at inopportune times.
Occasionally we'd hear unfamiliar conversations on the portable phone. I assume the neighbors were overhearing us as well.
I firmly balked, however, at cell phones. But when our teenage son began working outside the home, they seemed the perfect way to stay in touch. So we succumbed. Problem solved--as long as he answered his phone, that is. Nothing's changed about that in the last eight years.
I recently replaced our aging house phones with the latest cordless models. With built-in speakerphones, they're extremely handy. But as with the ancient portable, we're no better at remembering where we set them down. Plus, three sets of batteries....
Now beyond our time of childrearing, we receive only about one call per day on the house phone. Even so, I still forward it to my cell phone whenever I leave home. I'd hate to miss my one call!
Though I did abandon my faithful home phone service provider in favor of an enterprising upstart competitor several years ago, I've clung to the familiar landline.
Others aren't as sentimental. Ed Hubach recently shifted to cell phones exclusively for both home and business. He ticks off the advantages: one set of phones, one lower bill, one company to deal with.
There are drawbacks to "going wireless." Just this summer, as a friend and I discussed a sensitive issue on our cell phones, a cursing voice suddenly replaced his. Somehow two separate conversations had gotten mysteriously swapped in the ether. Frightening.
Then occasionally a slightly embarrassed person will venture to tell us: "Your cell phone dialed me by accident, and I heard you talking for 30 minutes. V-e-r-y interesting." I mumble acknowledgment but never solicit details.
Despite all the progress, there's still one annoying constant in wireless communication. Users tend to shout into their phones: "I can't hear you! You're breaking up! Say that again!"
Actually, "going wireless" is an old technology.
I "go wireless" whenever I pray. But did the call get through? Was there an answer on the other end? And I often feel an irresistible urge to shout, "I can't hear You! You're breaking up! Can You repeat that?"
And though I suspect that communications might be getting scrambled a bit in transit, "going wireless" the old-fashioned way is still the best deal I have.
Copyright 2004 James McAlister
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