Is phone considered a need?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

maat I don't think it's a want necessarily, but rather it CAN be a need.

I think it really depends. Like I said for us it's a need. NOW fancy cell phones, texting, is all wants.

But basic need? Yes. For jobs.

By the way my brother's on-call job it's a need, unless you don't want national security. LOL. Or a doctor with a pager and cell, they probably need a phone unless you don't want to be able to call them for surgery.

Phones can be a need or want depending on the person and situation.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

maat I don't think it's a want necessarily, but rather it CAN be a need.

I think it really depends. Like I said for us it's a need. NOW fancy cell phones, texting, is all wants.

But basic need? Yes. For jobs.

By the way my brother's on-call job it's a need, unless you don't want national security. LOL. Or a doctor with a pager and cell, they probably need a phone unless you don't want to be able to call them for surgery.

Phones can be a need or want depending on the person and situation.

I agree that using it for employment and in other business uses, it is an investment.

I also don't remember people needing one to survive before they were invented.

That's why I am on the fence, to some it's a need, to some it is not.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by maat55

I also don't remember people needing one to survive before they were invented.

That could be seen as a flawed argument, though.

Indoor plumbing isn't a need for survival but I don't see too many folks who still use outhouses.

The same could be said for a number of other modern inventions.

They may not be needs in the very strictest sense of the word, but for all practical purposes, they are needed to function in a modern society.

[Phenomenal Woman]

Texting is a need for me due to being deaf and thus why a simple phone is not a choice for me when it comes to selecting phones. This unfortunately influences my husband, family and very close friends to have a more expensive phone/ plan so they can comfortably text. Bless their kind heart for willing to do this to communicate with me. Also these days, technology is changing and we are going to be using more text, emails and other mediums of communicating whether we like it or not.
I can see a phone being a need for employment. However if you need the phone on the job, the company provides and pay for the phone in most cases. Unless you own your business, I personally would not want to work for a company if I had to pay additional expenses or using my car on the job without some form of reimbursements.
I would not want to go without a text phone but if I was in dire financial situation, I would let the phone go until I get my head above water.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Maybe that's why people died so much before. Doctors couldn't come to the hospital without phones, so doctors would be scheduled on shifts. If they got into an accident or something then the patients waiting for gallbladder surgery too bad. Go die on the table. We can't call the next doctor on the list.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

That could be seen as a flawed argument, though.

Indoor plumbing isn't a need for survival but I don't see too many folks who still use outhouses.

The same could be said for a number of other modern inventions.

They may not be needs in the very strictest sense of the word, but for all practical purposes, they are needed to function in a modern society.

Though I agree with your arguement, I would not quite compare it to plumbing. Phone service is beginning to become an expensive toy/tool and one, IMO, that could in most cases be labeled a want for debt reduction purposes.

My total phone services needed: 57.00 (business) want: 125.00 (home and cells) What's crazy is; my wife would give up a leg to keep her cell.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by maat55

Phone service is beginning to become an expensive toy/tool and one, IMO, that could in most cases be labeled a want for debt reduction purposes.

With this, I totally agree. I consider basic home phone service to be a need (yes you could survive without one but I don't think anyone should).

I consider a cell phone to be a want unless it is required for your job or it is your only phone in which case it had better be less expensive than a basic land line or else it goes back to being a want.

No matter what, all added services are wants. That includes caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, voice messaging, texting (except for the hearing-impaired), etc.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

With this, I totally agree. I consider basic home phone service to be a need (yes you could survive without one but I don't think anyone should).

I consider a cell phone to be a want unless it is required for your job or it is your only phone in which case it had better be less expensive than a basic land line or else it goes back to being a want.

No matter what, all added services are wants. That includes caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, voice messaging, texting (except for the hearing-impaired), etc.

Getting rid of an home phone would be a last resort decision, it depends on how badly one needs to cut their budget to survive. In a harsh economy where food is tough to afford, my phone would go.

[SacredFaerie]

Dude bottom line, the OP should leave themselves a way to call 911.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Wow, does anyone remember police phone boxes in urban areas? In the city near where I grew up, they were mounted on utility poles all over town. The public was allowed to use them to call for the police, fire department, or an ambulance, though they were primarily for police use. Children reviewed in first, second, and third grades how to make emergency calls from home (dial "0" for the phone company operator who would make the appropriate calls or connections!) and also were told that they could use the police phone in an emergency. Police phone boxes always seemed important yet mysterious, something which commanded a little awe. My memory of that is from the mid 1960s.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

whoops.

[vonowen]

yes it is... a consider it useful and very valuable.... I work far from my hometown and I always use my phone to contact my family and for emergency cases

[LivingAlmostLarge]

maat, that's why I said texting, data plan, etc is a want. But a need is a basic phone line if it is cellular or home phone. Notice you labeled your business phone a need.

So like someone who telecommutes it's a need.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

maat, that's why I said texting, data plan, etc is a want. But a need is a basic phone line if it is cellular or home phone. Notice you labeled your business phone a need.

So like someone who telecommutes it's a need.

I'm not sure where we disagree, I have agreed that it is a want to some and a need to others. If you had to choose between food or phone or utilities or phone or shelter or phone, to some this may be the difference between slowly going bankrupt.

If you have to ask the question wether it is a need or want, it may be a want.

You don't have to pay for a cell phone to call 911. I do have to have a phone to do business, I don't have to have one at home. But it would be the last thing to go before food, utilities and shelter.

I'm not dictating anyone elses circumstance, it can be either. I can't be any clearer than this.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I see it as a need if you live at home and telecommute. Or if you run a business from home. No phone = no income, although you could live on govt dole. So technically you don't have to work to survive.

I think that the problem is the person is trying to cut corners and asking what can I cut? And a phone is not a need if you don't use it for work. It's a want.

You can theoretically borrow a phone to call 911. But if your livelyhood depended on a phone? Like I mentioned want a doctor to have a phone right?

In the past maybe that's why people died young, medical care couldn't be gotten to quickly.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

In the past maybe that's why people died young, medical care couldn't be gotten to quickly.

I don't think the lack of a phone was a significant issue. I think a much bigger issue was that there really wasn't much of anything the doctor could do when he did come. Most modern medical treatments have only been around for less than 100 years and most are far newer than that.

[NeedaDollar]

Originally Posted by frito833

I have considered that option Steve. What company and plan do you recommend? Not sure which company, but I heard there's one where you prepay the minutes and the phone is only $20.

Frito, I have the T-Mobile prepaid service. I just pay $25 whenever I run out of minutes. You don't have to pay $25 a month like some prepaid plans. I can pay $25 once a year if I want. My minutes last for a year and they roll over if I purchase more minutes.

[Phenomenal Woman]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

You can theoretically borrow a phone to call 911. But if your livelyhood depended on a phone? Like I mentioned want a doctor to have a phone right?

In the past maybe that's why people died young, medical care couldn't be gotten to quickly.

I think a lot of times then, women in the family would do basic medical remedy since not a lot of advance medical knowledge were available and the men would burn the house down if there was a disease like small pox and the like. Family depended on each other and most likely stayed closer together. If everyone did not have a phone, I am sure they had some sort of system going on unless they were in the wilderness. I cannot help to wonder if the more advance medical help were more available to the wealthy at that time as well.

Today we are less co-dependent on others and have abundance in resources.

[boosami]

Every time I see this thread title in the list, I think it says "Is the iPhone considered a need" and I think of a certain Corvette post...