They make a great discount on your internet bill. Seriously though Some internet providers either make it cheaper to have phone + internet from them or make it impossible( or at least hard) to get internet without a land line.

I have a phone line for this reason (cheaper) at the moment.

Family households, especially ones with kids who aren't old enough to have a cellphone but need to use a phone. If you have a five and seven year-old in your house, a $30/month landline might make more sense than two cellphones that would never leave the house anyway.

Really? At $10 per extra phone (on my parent's plan) having a land line is more. Free caller id, voice mail, plus the ability to call between phones for free make having a land line a little silly.

Plus the cost of the cellphone and all the replacements for the cellphone your kid is bound to use.

I'm single and only have a cell, but my friends with kids inform me that landline for a family is the way to go. I see the logic in their argument.

Home emergencies. Large parts of the country do not have E911.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/wireless911srvc.html

Same - the last time I had a landline was in my college dorm room and it kept getting spam calls until we eventually disconnected it.

> What are landlines good for?

Clear, high quality voice communication. I rarely talk on my cell phone. It's essentially for text. I try to call people at their landlines.

Let me guess: iPhone?

When I lived in Boston, my iPhone 4 had amazing coverage and call quality was great. Never experienced a dropped call. Absolutely loved the phone.

Then I moved to Silicon Valley. I've been counting down the days for Verizon to pick up the iPhone, ever since.

There's nothing wrong with the iPhone. AT&T, though...