I talk with my friend Bill on the phone most nights.  I have known him forever and he is like a brother to me.  Fortunately he is a night owl since all this talking typically begins at midnight.  But this is not about my calling plan or even what we talk about so much as equipment.

Sometimes we Skype, that is when I bother to boot up my computer.  I usually drag it to work with me so it is the process of pulling it out and plugging it in.  And lets just admit that Windows Vista is not the fastest operating system to boot.  But if I get past that it all works.  This has not always been the case.  Prior to free night and weekend cell phone plans Bill and I were early adopters to VOIP programs.  I think we used to spend a good 2/3rds of our conversation saying, “Can you hear me?  I think we have a problem here.”  His wife still giggles when we talk about the good-ol-days.

But generally these calls are done from from my cell phone.  And I am not the biggest fan of having the phone jammed up to my ear for an hour.  I don’t fear cell radiation cooking my brain.  What I dislike is the feel of it.  Cell phones are generally designed to fit in your pocket.  Unlike old handsets from landlines, there really is no place to put your hand in the middle.  The earphone and mic do not line up with your ear and mouth respectively.  I don’t want to pay for a land line either, it just doesn’t make sense.  What I want is the shape and feel of a land line phone without having an extra bill.

For years I remember thinking, you should just be able to plug your cell phone in when you get home and then your house would know to ring the home phones and not the cell.  Well, that actually does exist.  There is a system called a Dock-N-Talk which connects your cell to your home wiring and there are other companies who make similar products.  In fact it can connect up to 8 phones through Bluetooth so everyone in your house can do it.  Interestingly I think this actually brings up a problem.  I have gotten very used to calling a number and have the specific person I tried to call answer the phone.  Can you imagine having to actually ask for a different person, “Is Bill there?”  It would be like a step back?  But I would welcome it.

I actually like vintage phones and wouldn’t mind having one.  If I got one of these things today I would actually have to go out and buy a landline set since I have been cell-only for such a long time.

Well, now I have to run.  I see I got an e-mail from Google saying I can now sign up for Google Voice, lets see how much more communication confusion I can become a part of.