Our Changing World #269 By Hank Silverberg I still have a hardline telephone in my house. It's there for security, a backup because cell phone towers and the internet can be knocked out by storms or easily attacked by people up to no good. And cell phones can die in long power outages. Until just a few weeks ago, one of the extensions on that line was actually a rotary phone, an old blue princess phone I had bought 40 years ago in our first house. It still worked well as an extension, though I rarely used the dial. But the little jack on the back finally gave out and it kept getting disconnected, so it was time for a replacement, and that in some ways is what this week's non-news comments are about. A hardline phone used to be an easy buy. Most box stores had them in the small appliance or electronic section for maybe 40 bucks. I found out that's not the case anymore. The one I did see on a