OT- old technology

PS. If they ever put a crank on a cell phone, I'll get my phone number changed to 7 F 22. That used to be my grandad's phone number prior to going to dial sometime between 1954 and 1963. The trick is knowing which operator to call . . .

Charles of Shaumburg

Makes sense though - i know of a lot of people who need a new phone but all they get offered is an array of gadgetry. OK for some but others dont want the complication or fragility of extra features they dont use on a phone thats usually very expensive. I still have some old 1-line display bricks that i use when i want a reliable robust phone (out mountainbiking).

Why not? We have Crank radios and Crank flashlights!

Also, people would probably have to limit calls to 5-10 minutes.

Of course, you'll get some idiot Soccer Mom trying to crank her phone up While she's talking AND driving with 8 screaming kids in the SUV...

Wait! A soccer Mom wouldn't do that! Make that the driver of a Prius with a Peace sign on it!

We also have crank-phone-chargers, so its getting close.

When I was a mere lad in the 1940's we had a phone with no dial. A two party line. If the aother party was using the phone you could listen in. They could listen to you if you were on the line. When you picked up the phone you would hear "operator" you would tell her what number you wanted. Our number was "East Boston 7 0407M. Never forgot it. Ron

I lived in town as a kid (50's) and we had a private phone line, but some friends lived out in the country, & they had party lines. Several homes' phones were on the same line, & each home's phone had its own distinctive ring - sort of Morse Code-like. If you picked up the phone to make a call & someone else on the party line was already on it, you'd obviously pick up in the middle of their conversation. Some people would hang up right away, others wouldn't... And if the other people were on for a long time, most peopke would finally ask them to please wind up their call soon, to free up the line.

Cathy

As recently as the early 1960s, I knew a fellow in Fillmore, CA. When you called long distance, you got a Fillmore operator and asked for the number, which I recall as 247J. Yes, J on the end. The operator knew everyone in town and obviously all their activities as well, because I called once and asked for 247J, and the operator sensing from my voice that I was young, asked "Do you want Tom? "(the son of the family). "Yes, please" I said. "Well, Tom's not home now, I think he's down at Henry's cafe for lunch....want me to ring him there?" She plugged in Henry's Cafe's number and sure enough, Tom was there. I laughed the rest of the day.

Oh. my. goodness. Part of me says, "Hey, that's cool & so quintessentially 'good ol' days' stuff" and the rest of me says, "Accckk! Claustrophobic!"

Cathy

Well, my aunt had Chauncy 11F13 until 1969, then she was 869-2490 until Uncle Russell died.

Charles of Schaumburg

I am one of the few people remaining in America that does not have a cellular phone. I hate those damned things, especially the behavior of

My cell phone peeves:

-- obnoxious rings during meetings

-- hogging traffic lanes while yakking

-- dropping a face-to-face conversation to answer the phone

-- constant text messaging

-- exorbitant prices of hardware and service

No, I don't propose a ban on cell phones, but cell phone etiquette training and testing for a license would be a good idea.

Should be turned to silent, or off.

Agreed.

Generally if Im having a conversation with someone worth talking to I switch mine off before i start talking to them but there are times when youre waiting for an important call and need to pause the current unimportant conversation.

Its a very easy and fast way of staying in touch with friends and familty - something not enough people do so to facilitate it is only good in my opinion. Calling people can be too involved and.....

cause texting to be cheaper and quicker.

Some people would argue that it is the norm now and therefore you are the one expecting too much. I'm sitting on the fence. :-)

I resisted one until about 3 years ago. But I finally got one mainly for use at work (school). There are phones in the classrooms, but they are presently set up as intercoms, not as outside lines. It can be a royal PITA to find a free outside line to use to call a parent, make a dentist appt., etc. Having a cell phone, I can be right at my own desk while the class is at lunch or at a special (Art, Music, etc.), & I don't have to cart my planbook &/or gradebook around while traipsing around the building trying to find a phone that's free.

Also good - makes it easier than finding a pay phone - if running behind schedule on trips - to let people at other end know you're running late, so they're not inconvenienced, & don't worry. I was coming up on the train from NYC w/ my niece - by the time we reached Albany were running an hour behind, due to a snowstorm. This way could easily call my sister & let her know to wait a good hour before starting out for the station where she was going to pick niece/daughter up.

I agree w/ the peeves.

Cathy

I have a cell phone, but I've self limited to 60 minutes per month. I never reach max.

A simple solution to the cell phone glut is do away with minute packages. In other words, charge by the minute only and not sell packages that include 1000 hours per month ect. People will then watch more closely as to what foolish calls they think they need to make on their cell phones.

I was in the doctors office once waiting to get a lab test. They called a guy who was talking on his cell phone in the waiting room, well when he was called he kept right on yaking into the lab. Next time I was there perhaps a couple months later they had a big sign on the door, NO CELL PHONES! I'm seeing these signs more often. Around here you can get a ticket for inattentive driving. So watch it when you make that oh so important call to your girfeind just to chat and relieve your driving boredom.

Another time I was in the local computer superstore looking at some junk and this dude comes walking in fast and it was like there was nobody else around except him. He was talking to himself and I thought this chap is going to whip out a AK and start shooting up the place until I saw his bluetooth headset, LOL.

The problem w/ that is that some people have ditched their land lines & have only cell phones - they use them as their main/only phone.

Cathy

Excuse me, but have you never been asked to standby while one answers a ringing wired phone? Surely you've been talking to somebody when a traditional phone rings, and that person asked you to wait a moment while they answer the call. Proper etiquette says they should ask the caller to wait while they complete the conversation with you, or they tell the caller they will call back when they are done with you, but this etiquette does not change because there is a wire or not.

I can't say that I NEVER text, but I never text.

The phone is free and service is cheaper than a land line in most cases these days. One can get service for 40 bucks and include service for additional equipment for $10 for each piece. You can have cell service, and get a phone for your Mom for less than both of you pay for land line service.

Phone etiquette would be a good thing, but if one has good manners then one probably doesn't need etiquette classes, and if one needs etiquette classes, the class probably won't work.

Pay phone???

I'll bet we have an entire generation of kids that have never seen a pay phone, and perhaps two generations that have not used one.

BTW - on this last... I paid something like $75 for a plain Jane phone, & each month's service is $15 (prepaid). I never use up all of my minutes, so I have something like 20+ hours' worth of calls accumulated on it - the unused ones roll over to the next month. (If a plan less than $15/mo. were offered, I'd take it!)

Cathy

I take your point, but they're still in stores, airports, malls, etc. But definitely fewer & fewer pay phones as the cell phone numbers grow.

Cathy

What always seem strange to me is why so many folks that believe they must speak so loudly when using one. ;)

mike