this week was asking in one of its polls: "How many phones do you have? Count wired phone extensions, cell phones, smartphones, and installed VoIP apps on all computers that you use regularly."

Unscientific, to be sure, but at last look more than 26,000 Slashdotters had answered. I was surprised to find that my total of five phones was above the poll's most popular answer of two to four (51%). I had figured that the Slashdot crowd would be good for a boatload of phones, but now I'm thinking this probably reflects the number of people rejecting land lines altogether

A colleague saw my Buzzblog post about the poll and offered this personal anecdote: "I slinked into and out of Target last week with a new landline phone. I failed in my bid to have our household go cell-phone only."

Left unspoken was that he wasn't the decider.

Nevertheless, I encounter more people all the time who have cut the cord, including my brother and his wife. Twenty-seven percent in the Slashdot poll reported owning only a single phone, presumably the vast majority being of the mobile variety.