Posted on 12/28/2006 12:37:32 PM PST by CAWats
They're here for the poor souls who get into fender-benders and need to call 911, only to find their cellphones are dead.
They're here for the hapless tourists whose cell providers don't work in South Florida. And they're here for millions who can't afford a monthly land line or long-distance bill.
But they won't be here for long.
Pay phones -- the trusty, clunky, plastic-and-metal standbys favored by Clark Kent for his Superman transformations -- are going the way of the dinosaur.
(Excerpt) Read more at miami.com ...
This is a terrible imposition on organized crime.
How are they going to conduct business?
No kidding. Hardly any payphones around, and the ones that are there, usually don't work. The other day, my train was late, and my cellphone was dead. I went to FOUR payphones in the area, and ALL of them had been vandalized. None of them worked. I finally bummed a call off of a friendly looking citizen, who lent me his phone. I felt like a beggar..
I know it's market forces and there's nothing to be done about it, but it is sad. As pay phones disappear it becomes harder and harder to live without a cell phone. I used to spend $1/month or less on pay phones. Now I pay for a monthly cell-phone "service".
And using a calling card at a payphone is becoming a little pricey too. MCI now charges me a buck per call in addition to 3c/min for every call I make via a pay phone.
It's the perfect economic storm: pay-phone use declines, so providers raise prices to compensate. Repeat.
I shoulda taken a picture of it, but when we were visiting our in-laws back east last week, the neighbors on the other side of their back fence had a PHONE BOOTH in their back yard. I don't know if it was working or not, but every time I'd back out of the in-laws driveway, I'd have to chuckle over the sight of this ode to Clark Kent. Or so I explained it to my 5-year-old nephew!
I saw a payphone in the Post Office last week. Three customers in the parcel pickup line were on their cellphones. Actually, criminals should be encourged to use cellphones since they automatically send their GPS position to the FBI, the CIA, the State Troopers, and the FedEx van.
Hotels have been burned the most by cell phones. Remember the outrageous fees for using a hotel phone? Well, guess what? Nobody uses them any more.
Useless pay phones are why I finally got a cell phone. I was trying to call my pistolsmith. I stuck my money in a pay phone and got disconnected or somesuch. Thinking I had written the number down incorrectly, I called directory assistance. It was another $1.00 to get an operator.
Then they wanted the phone number I was calling from. Well, guess what - even though it was at a gas station in an upscale area, there was no number on the phone. "Well, I HAVE to have the phone you're calling from to give you that number."
Clipping it off: I had a cell phone within 2 days.
And don't get me started on getting raped using hotel phones to connect to my home account to make calls when out of town. Can you say "Long distance included in monthly fee?" And "Bluetooth" so I don't have to sit in one place?
FedEx is tracking us? Chilling thought!
I had a restaurant...and the phone company charged me $70 a month for the phone....and they got 50% of the take..and I always owed...
Our old, rural "general store" on our road first removed their gas pumps and now their pay phone. I asked the owner about the phone and she said it was a draw for the seedier elements. She wanted them off of her property, especially during the nightime hours. I don't blame her.
When I was a lowly Repair Clerk for the phone company a million years ago, it was my dream to become a coin collector for pay phones. It seemed to pay a ton of money (to me), and driving around town emptying pay phone coin boxes seemed like pretty easy duty.
OH NO -- what are those of us who don't have cell phones gonna do?
I would imagine universities feel the heat too.
When I was in college and needed to call home there were ridiculous long distance fees, and a whole industry built around screwing the kids for long distance.
With cell phones these days, the cost doesn't make a difference if you're clear across the country from one and other.
"How are they going to conduct business?"
With disposable, pre-paid cash, cell phones. Much more convenient and easier to dispose of.
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