You don’t need a phone to do all of that. We managed very well before cell phones.
It’s kind of scary that people have become so dependent on their phones...
I talked my computer illiterate elderly mom into getting an iPhone when she got a huge rebate some years ago for a refrigerator that couldn't be fixed under warranty and the replacement was worth less. Within a month or so she cancelled the L/L and moved the number to the iPhone. With the iPhone she actively participates with extended family members rather than maybe hearing something second hand from my dad. My mom also runs the household and much of the billing and contacting is done via texting and email these days. Another issue is the local paper and WSJ stopped delivering to my parents location, so we bought her a cheap Ipad with a bigger screen to read the online papers.
I have a story to tell. I enlisted in the USAF in 1975 with a guaranteed job called Telecommunications Systems Control. When I got out of the USAF, I hired on with ITT U.S. Transmission Systems, then GTE Sprint, then MCI which eventually was bought out and became Verizon Business that I retired from. My 40 year career in telecommunications gave proof there is no such thing as a great god Electron. I have a smart phone that I completely ignore. I have email that I completely ignore. In my jobs I have listened to thousands of telephone calls especially in the night shift.
I have a shovel in the garage that I never think of until I need that tool. A cellphone is just a tool.
It is true that, (i)t’s kind of scary that people have become so dependent on their phones..., but it is all up to each person.
On 9/11, I was on several phone calls at once, for over 24 hours at a time. I have listened to a phone ringing off the hook for various reasons. It's not magic.