The telephone was a shared device, and as a child it was not mine.  In college, it was shared with 4 other people (and still not mine).  Then once married, it was shared with my spouse.<p>But now there is no more &#x27;shared voice device.&#x27;  It is not pratical to not own a phone.  But all cell phones are not sharable.   Hence, by default, either I carry a phone and the contact person knows explicitly I am ignoring them or I answer it.  But when the only game in town was a simple telephone, a busy signal or no answer just meant nobody is available.  Nothing else.   But now, with my phone, I can no longer say I am not available, imo.