'Craving for a simpler time': Landline phones are back — the surprise is who wants them

Dec 9, 2025 - 14:28
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'Craving for a simpler time': Landline phones are back — the surprise is who wants them


An entrepreneur says she sold 1,000 updated versions of landline phones in 72 hours.

Cat Goetze, the creator behind Physical Phones, says most people hate that technology has taken over their attention span, and has sold $120,000 worth of product through her idea to bring back landline phones.

'People don't memorize people's phone numbers anymore.'

"I started Physical Phones because I realized most people don't actually hate technology," Goetze said on "Fox & Friends First."

Goetze is selling physical phones that mimic rotary phones, the handheld phones of the 1990s, and the phones that hung from the wall in most homes in the 1970s and 1980s. However, they don't work by plugging into a phone jack; rather, they are powered by a rechargeable battery/USB, and connect to modern smartphones via Bluetooth.

"People don't memorize people's phone numbers anymore, so we built this really awesome feature in where I'm connected via Bluetooth right now," she told the Fox hosts. "If I pick up my physical phone and I press star, it activates Siri, so I can just say, 'Call Mama' ... and it'll go ahead and call her."

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Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Goetze says that in 2023, she "hacked a Bluetooth antenna into a pink landline phone simply because taking calls while twirling my finger [in] a curly cord made me smile."

In her recent appearance, as well as on the company's website, Goetze stated that young people "shouldn't be forced to choose between tossing your iPhone in the ocean and spending eight hours a day doomscrolling."

The idea is that any video or audio call that comes through the connected cell phone — including from WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Snapchat — goes to the landline-esque phone to help users resist the allure and temptations of their smartphone.

"It's actually the young people who have never actually had a landline phone that are the most excited," Goetze remarked. "They're the ones who have this nostalgia and this craving for a simpler time because they grew up with smartphones."

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Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images

Readers may remember the NoPhone, the original answer for those who are against using a smartphone entirely or wanted to rid themselves of being attached to a device. The item looks like a smartphone but has zero functionality whatsoever.

Launched in 2014, the original NoPhone sells from $15 to $21. A newer version, called the "NoPhone Selfie Update," is listed for $23. The updated version says customers are "able to make real-time selfies," as it comes with a mirror stuck to it.

AT&T currently offers landline connections ranging from $59 to $72. Verizon offers its own set of landline options as well.

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Fibis I am just an average American. My teen years were in the late 70s and I participated in all that that decade offered. Started working young, too young. Then I joined the Army before I graduated High School. I spent 25 years in, mostly in Infantry units. Since then I've worked in information technology positions all at small family owned companies. At this rate I'll never be a tech millionaire. When I was young I rode horses as much as I could. I do believe I should have been a cowboy. I'm getting in the saddle again by taking riding lessons and see where it goes.