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by platinum1 3047 days ago
For the majority of the history of land lines and analog phones, the phones and lines were owned by the telephone company, and leased by the consumer. This change happened in 1982, 10 years AFTER mobile phones were invented.

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/16/business/new-era-for-the-t...

In fact, some people still lease their phones: https://consumerist.com/2012/04/30/hundreds-of-thousands-of-...

1 comments

It is a bit disingenuous to say that 1982 was ten years after mobile phones were invented. Technically true, but mobile phones as we know them were not really a thing until mid to late nineties.

Not sure this really changes your point, of course. :) It is funny to see the surprise in people when they hear that you used to lease the phone in your house. Especially if you are like me and detest cable companies for wanting me to do the same with their crap.