The main example is probably just calling up your parents, whether as a kid or even as an adult calling up their elderly parents. Sometimes you just want to speak to "your parents." You didn't have to decide whether to call mom's cellphone or dad's cellphone. And you didn't have to worry about who you called last. Heck, with caller ID, mom or dad could even decide who wanted to chat with you.
My mother-in-law actually complains about this going the other way. Sometimes she just wants to call our house, because she'd love it if I randomly picked up and she could chat with me in passing. She'd find it awkward to call my phone, because we don't quite have that "chat about nothing on the phone" relationship, but it used to be that you could get two minutes of catching up with someone before you said "ok, now pass me to the person I was really calling for."
But I absolutely agree. Growing up, I occasionally had conversations with my parents’ friends when they’d call the house. I no longer have those.
That's really handy for kids.
> Dial out to a short list of family contacts. It's not something I think about much, but when I was a kid there was a phone on the wall and once I could reach it, I could use it. Now, if you're not old enough to have a cell phone, you also can't call anyone at all.
That's not something I've ever thought about, but is a really huge change in what kids can do. I was always allowed to call over to a friend's house and see if they could play.