There was a time when every single house had a landline. Then people started to hook up multiple lines, so that the teenager downstairs could have marathon conversations with every friend they had every single night and parents didn’t have to worry that the phone line would be tied up for important phone calls from work. We only had that one option at that time. When the internet came to town, people had to hook up a separate line just to have their dial-up internet.

Those were the days! People tethered to their wall phone units with a constantly tangled wire, until we were finally granted cordless phones, and even then you were still tethered to a 10-foot perimeter surrounding your wall unit. You’d bring it outside while you were at the barbeque and have to run back in the house if the phone rang so you could get reception. I would be willing to bet that there are children currently that have literally no idea what I’m even blathering about right now… they grew up in the age of the cellphone… and what a world that was.

You would think that once cellphones became commercially available they would have immediately kicked out the house phone, but they didn’t. We were untethered from a location but completely tied down to usage. You only had so many minutes of talk time, and only at certain times, and forget about texting! Yet here we are, in 2020, with every person having their own personal phone number, and having the ability to talk for as long as they want whenever they want. Landlines are now almost a thing of the past.

The question then becomes, how long before dedicated “landline” internet becomes a thing of the past? Let me explain…

Currently, people have a few choices between Internet Service Providers based on where their home is located and what service is available in your area, but is that it? Is that where the innovation stops? Not only do I severely doubt that, but I believe we are already moving away from this model.

Most cellphones come charged with unlimited data and you can even use your cellphone as a hotspot for laptops… so suddenly now we have devised a system where we can have the internet on the go. How long before we cut the internet cord in our house?

Sure, if you’ve ever used a cellphone as a hotspot you will probably argue that it is not NEARLY strong enough to be able to power our streaming services and all of the lightbulbs in your home, and your Alexa’s and what have you… but what about a dedicated hotspot? Companies like Skyroam are springing up everywhere with more and more power to get the internet to you wherever you may be. How long before, cable internet, too, becomes a thing of the past? I guess we’ll just wait and see.

Jennifer Sesco