I rather miss the single-purpose line phones. You know, the ones you plugged into the wall. You could actually understand what the person you were talking to was saying. And you could never take them with you.
Another benefit: I remember when we lost power at home, and went to a friend's place, or out to run errands. You could always call home and see if the answering machine picked up. If it did, you knew the power had been restored!
Now that was different era. I remember when answering machines / services were uncommon. You had to wait and retry later. People also had to stick to appointments and not change them at the last minute.