Whatsapp is the perfect replacement for landline

It doesn’t surprise me that millions of people have stopped using their landline phones (News, Issue 546, page 9). I’m living proof that someone who isn’t very ‘techy’ can gradually move away from landlines in favour of smartphones.

I was sceptical at first. The landline phone had been such a vital part of my life, always there in the hallway. I recall as a child our family getting a phone for the first time, and what an important moment it felt.

But in the past two years I’ve probably made fewer than 10 calls on the landline. The transformation began when my son bought me a cheapish Android phone for my birthday, and then installed Whatsapp ( www. whatsapp.com) on it.

This app is amazing! You mention that it’s popular with teenagers, and I’m sure it is. But it should also be a must-have for pensioners as a simple antidote to loneliness and isolation. Using Whatsapp, I’ve set up groups for all the clubs I belong to (chess, gardening, photography) and organise meetings, swap photos and so on. My son even laughs that I use it more than he does.

I’d never get rid of my landline because I’m still risk-averse. It offers me an emergency outlet, and ditching it would represent too much of a break with the past (nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia). But if I want a long chat with family, I use Whatsapp for free. And if I want a short chat with friends, I send them messages. It has transformed my life as much as getting that first telephone did back in the Forties.

Jonathan Powell