So much... misinformation

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freitasm

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#283851 16-Mar-2021 10:01

Last night I went for a drive and turned on the radio - unfortunately a Japanese import and we never replaced the original radio. The talkback radio show was about the cost of landline and if a landline is still even something you want.

Some people mentioned they moved to mobile-only, while others said they still need the landline for alarm or because their older relatives can't use a mobile.

Then someone mentioned cost. And things went downhill. The host doesn't understand VoIP and how it needs at least a broadband service (copper, fibre or cable) but couldn't realise the difference between broadband and phone service really. The "naked" bit didn't come into the conversation.

At some point the host even searched (it seems they have a computer just to search for things to fill time, so "critical thinking" doesn't enter the equation when answers are needed fast). He found a "Gold Card" deal from a telco for people over 65 who could get a "huge" 500 MB/month in that plan.

Someone called and asked if she could have the phone line through her computer because she pays too much for the copper line but her computer is also plugged into it. he host went into some thought process that ended up nowhere. He asked people to call if they knew the answer.

The person who called claimed to work for a telco and mentioned that with VoIP they could have monthly costs as low as $ 5 and could even have the old phone number on a mobile app - so I am guessing the caller wasn't working for the large telcos but someone like 2Talk. But before the caller could even explain how this would work the host cut him off saying it was time for the ads.

And nothing was resolved.

Talk about giving all the ideas to people but nothing to work with.

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#2675313 16-Mar-2021 10:04

wow you'd think they'd at least have an expert on standby who is dialled in who can help out

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#2675320 16-Mar-2021 10:11

For those of us who are regular National radio listeners, we understand there is Radio and there is also the Rodeo.

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#2675327 16-Mar-2021 10:28

If cost really was an issue nobody would still be smoking. We gave up the landline not to save $10 a month but because we both had mobiles. Why call the house when you can call the person? This has bitten us a couple of times. 2km from a tower yet there's still places in the house where the phones drop off the network. Roll on wifi calling.

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#2675328 16-Mar-2021 10:31

We have a landline because it essentially costs us nothing and my elderly parents and my in-laws call us on it.

Otherwise it's largely redundant. We make outgoing calls on mobile and have unlimited minutes to NZ and AU, so no tolls or additional costs.

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freitasm

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#2675331 16-Mar-2021 10:32

Basically you are paying for a landline so others can call you for free (assuming in the same area). So why not both sides use mobile (which most of the times now include free NZ/AU calls) and two people less using landlines?

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#2675344 16-Mar-2021 10:46

We gave up our landline once I realised that the calls we got were 90% spam.

The interesting thing is, the dynamics of a landline are completely different to a mobile. With a mobile phone you're calling a person, whereas with a landline you're calling a house and may not care who picks up. There's quite a difference in the way I interact with my parents now. I'm not sure which I prefer, but it's definitely different.

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#2675345 16-Mar-2021 10:52

My elderly parents listen to rubbish like this on NZME radio stations and when I visit them I am shocked at how misinformed they are on all sorts of subjects, and how little they know about what is really going on in the world.

It is concerning that in the modern media environment it can be very difficult for older people to identify trustworthy sources of news and information.

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#2675365 16-Mar-2021 11:11

I have tried to push a few older ones onto mobile only plans, but a small few are still very resistant to change. For example move to skinny mobile unlimited plan would be roughly half the cost of fixed landline. And even worse some are on old old old grandfathered plans and paying lots for mobile calls etc. All because old Uncle Bob won't call mobile numbers.

It doesn't help when they call say spark or similar, and they try and push them onto a 4G solution, which goes pear shape and that just confuses them even more!

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#2675367 16-Mar-2021 11:14

Same talking point (landlines) on Magic Talk this morning, topic must be set by the Colmar Brunton polling no longer calling landlines for data collection. 2 hours in so far and it's still relatively sane.. could be worse??

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#2675467 16-Mar-2021 13:58

Handsomedan:

We have a landline because it essentially costs us nothing and my elderly parents and my in-laws call us on it.

don't your in-laws have/use mobile phones?

my wife wanted us to keep the landline specifically for the same purpose (her folks to call us). however, it made no sense as both of them actually do have mobile phones (prepay). so we ditched the landline when we got fibre. they would text if they wanted to talk, and she'd give them a call.

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#2675544 16-Mar-2021 15:13

My inlaws still have a homeline, even to the point where its a plug in phone (not cordless) with just 1 handset in the house. We are trying to get them onto something like the Vodafone 4g wireless broadband deal (which looks like they can keep their phone number) but as they are in another part of the country, its just in the too hard basket. They complain that banks have abandoned the town, that you can't go get cash out to then go and pay bills, but they have no form of internet at present nor a mobile phone made this century, so apps and the internet way of things is just simply beyond them.

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#2675552 16-Mar-2021 15:36

One aspect of the landline that seems almost forgotten is that it must adhere to strict quality of service standards. These are both in terms of voice quality and service availability. In general, our mobile phone service (or VoIP) in NZ would not meet the basic ITU standards for telephony, especially when there is transcoding at points of local interconnect and international links. Even for folk with excellent hearing, it's not unusual to have to hang up and re-call a mobile when there is a bad connection.

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#2675570 16-Mar-2021 16:07

Handsomedan:

We have a landline because it essentially costs us nothing and my elderly parents and my in-laws call us on it.

Otherwise it's largely redundant. We make outgoing calls on mobile and have unlimited minutes to NZ and AU, so no tolls or additional costs.

Been there done that, ended up porting and Voiping it....

Did the same thing for the parents when they left their House of 40 years, It meant they could take their old POTS number that all the relatives know to their new place.. + as an extra bonus they get to also have it ring at their bach... plus if they ever move again its a simple plug and unplug move...

wellygary

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#2675572 16-Mar-2021 16:09

freitasm:

Last night I went for a drive and turned on the radio - unfortunately a Japanese import and we never replaced the original radio. The talkback radio show was about the cost of landline and if a landline is still even something you want.

.......

And nothing was resolved.

Talk about giving all the ideas to people but nothing to work with.

The whole point of Talkback radio is to make the listeners wade through the multitude of Ads they play,

Hook'em and keep 'em wriggling is pretty much their motto..

Nothing is ever resolved as that would mean listeners might turn off.

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#2675587 16-Mar-2021 16:45

freitasm:

Basically you are paying for a landline so others can call you for free (assuming in the same area). So why not both sides use mobile (which most of the times now include free NZ/AU calls) and two people less using landlines?

Good luck teaching someone like my mother, who has moderate dementia, how to use a mobile. We retired her mobile when even answering a call became too much, with making a call having been essentially always being too difficult for her.

There is still a good user case for landlines for situations like this (I imagine there could be hybrid solutions if one was desperate to give up having to pay for a landline, eg tethering the mobile to a cordless phone so calls are made and received via the mobile.)

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