(no subject)

[jack]

So, I have a phone line. I need a phone. What should I do?

* Buy a bog-standard cheap basic plastic handset from shop/internet?
* Browse for a shiny!futuristic phone on geek toy websites?
* Fiddle with laptop until modem, and headphone mike function together as phone?
* Grab one free when someone throws out their 5000 old useless handsets?
* Something else?

Comments

[pizza.maircrosoft.com (from livejournal.com)]

* look on freecycle
* go to every charity shop in town looking for one, fail to find any, shrug and buy one of your choice, spot one in the very next charity shop you enter
* build your own from raw materials, including spaghetti, marbles and old inner tubes

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

ROFL. Yes, that's something like my normal strategy. Although, don't want to spend any time looking to save < £10. I do like the building strategy, it sounds so tantalisingly plausible... *hugs*

[fishpi.livejournal.com]

You mean a landline? I have a spare (extremely basic) phone if you want it, but it's really worth going cordless. Tescos do a cheap cordless phone that I've been very happy with.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, that's obviously right, thank you! Can I borrow the basic one iff I see you before I go to tesco's?

Cordless is good. (It just annoys me when I found out that Japan, due to inventing mobiles and cordless phones in the right order, have phones that do both.) But I don't know if some are more comfortable, may start with basic and think about comfort.

[pizza.maircrosoft.com (from livejournal.com)]

phones that do both

. o 0 { cordless mobiles }
. o 0 { all mobiles are cordless }
. o 0 { ?! }

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Indeed, that's always boggled me. (The actual point, if it's not clear, being that cordless refers to phones doing without a cord what phones with cords do, ie send over wires, at sending over wire tarrifs. And the ones I was describing are ones that send over wires if they're in your house, and through the magic of the air if you're not.)

[pizza.maircrosoft.com (from livejournal.com)]

magic! what do they do if they're in someone else's house? do they steal the wires?

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I've no idea. Someone read about this on the internet so it might not even be true, though it certainly ought to be. I assume you'd have some key that you might or might not share with friends, or maybe they just interfere with each other if you use two in the same house, I don't know.

[alextfish.livejournal.com]

Ah. I came here to offer to give you my old, cheap, basic but funky and futuristic and transparent landline handset that I used to use back when I had a landline, only to discover you've already been offered a basic handset.

Yeah, cordless would probably be best.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Well, transparant but free is better, but I'll probably see Tim first.