Would you ever consider ditching your smartphone and buying a landline? 

People are more concerned than ever about the impact smartphones are having on children, so why not get rid of them entirely? Humans have existed without them for thousands of years perfectly well. 

On The Hard Shoulder, Irish Examiner columnist Esther McCarthy said the idea of a landline telephone seems almost historic to her children. 

“For my kids to tell them that there was one phone and if you missed the call, that was it,” she described. 

“You know, it's just mind boggling to them.

“Like, so I kind of love it, but I can't imagine it actually coming back.

“It is a quiet rebellion against the smartphone and the whole overload.”

Ms McCarthy added that she remembers a landline gave parents far more control over their children than they get with a smartphone.  

“If Dad answered the phone, you were like hopping on the feet going, ‘Dad, give it to me, don't embarrass me’,” she recalled. 

“And then like that, it was in the hall, so everyone could hear your conversation - but it kind of kept us honest. Do you know what I mean?

“There was no kind of like, subterfuge flirting around things, you'd get the almighty mickey taken out of you.

“So, it kind of probably taught us how to behave a bit better and gave us a thick skin because your family would mock you relentlessly if no one else did.”

Main image: A woman on a landline telephone. Picture by: Alamy.com.