[Brajeshwar]

Around 2012-2013, my 5/6-ish year old daughter found an old wired phone I kept around and she was astonished when I told her that wires used to connect phones. "You need wires to phone call? But why!"

A few years back, in India, competition amongst the ISP/Telephone providers were heating up and everything became so cheap and readily available. I got Jio for fun, and then Airtel in hope to stop them from calling/texting/spamming me. Now, I have two additional Internet fibers coming in besides the primary, and they came with free (I think, Unlimited) phone calls. So, I added two wired phones and kept them.

Now, my 2nd daughter (5-ish year old) is intrigue and knows she can talk to her grandparents on the other end. She is brimming with triumph and fun that she knows the "numbers to grandma and grandpa."

Growing up, phones were a luxury and I know the ins-out of the only telephone exchange in our tiny home-town, where I know quite a few top executives (friends' father/uncles). I love the nostalgia of having a wired phone and I want that rotary ones.

[iforgotpassword]

I still have a landline at home that I basically never use, "just in case". When I had a co-worker over a few years ago he brought his ~8yo, and it was a similar story. A wired phone was totally fascinating for him. Never mind that cell phones are tiny, are powered from a battery and make your voice travel through the air to as far away as you want, and even make it possible to see the person you're taking to. No, that's normal and boring. But when I used that phone to call his dad who was over in the living room, he was completely amazed and told his dad that he's calling him with that wired phone in the kitchen.

[wodenokoto]

Reminds of a joke from Futurama, when a person from the year 3000 sees a phone booth:

“They have phones in booths now? What am I logging this thing around for!?” And throws away their cellphone.

[heurisko]

> I still have a landline at home that I basically never use, "just in case".

I have a landline that I only use to call my mobile phone, when I lose it within the house.

[squarefoot]

Also it makes a world of difference when kids learn that they can actually build an usable toy phone by connecting a battery, some long wires and two pairs of carbon mic and speaker capsules. There were kits to do that when us grey beards were kids, and I'm confident some of them contributed to a few engineering careers much later.