I’ve been reading things about how landline telephone companies are in big trouble. With the rise of wireless-only families and the threat of broadband voice-over-IP, the incumbent phone companies have never looked more vulnerable. I know people who’ve cut the cord for good, vowing never to go back. Ma Bell has a serious problem on her hands.

Here’s an article showing how much damage has been done to the landline business. Another article in Wired magazine tells about Japan’s competition against their national phone company, NTT. Broadband providers are hooking up people left and right to 12 Mb/s cable modems, with free VoIP calls among customers.

It may not happen today or tomorrow, but dial tone is dead. Voice over IP, mobile phones, and even 802.11b aren’t going away and will forever change the lowly telephone. The device which changed the world in its 100 years of existence has itself not changed. The world now demands more from its phones and the landline companies which cannot provide it are doomed to become dinosaurs.