Have been without a phone since December 15, 2007. The decision was primarily about economics. But it was also about my aversion to the intrusiveness and annoyance of a ringing phone and the demand for attention it implied from the other end.Ironically, the only one who misses my having a phone is one of my friends. She prefers the forms of communication which have immediacy, thus her favoured methods are face-to-face or voice-to-voice. However, since I'm online most hours of every day, she's learning to manage well enough communicating with me by email. I've yet to persuade her to use instant messaging or keyboard chat, or to get headphones so we might use voice chat or Skype. (It doesn't help that her sound card isn't working.)
As for my perspective on getting by without a phone, I have managed quite well, although I still encounter some foolish resistance by some businesses - such as my doctor's office, which refuses to use email to communicate with patients, although they do use it for other purposes. Have told them that it's not my intent to email THEM (though why they're concerned about this, I've no idea), but if they need to reach ME, then, short of snailmail, email is their only option. They're slowly coming 'round to my point of view.
Oh, and I'm delighted to be depriving Telus of ~$500 a year.
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