But, some also heard it... and listened to your conversation...
Posted on 11/18/2013 4:43:26 AM PST by Vigilanteman
Long before smartphones and text messages made the world instantly available with a split-second tap, reaching out to touch someone could take a full 10 seconds.
That was just to dial a number, ticked out one deliberate digit at a time, on a mechanical wheel owned by the phone company.
Monday marks 50 years since the United States began saying goodbye to the classic rotary phone, replaced by touch-tone services that slashed dialing time and foreshadowed a digital revolution that keeps reshuffling everyday communication.
The push-buttons became an especially big deal in Western Pennsylvania, where Carnegie and Greensburg were first in the country to see complete rollouts of the optional upgrade in November 1963.
Bell Telephone Co. customers could pay $1.50 a month for the pleasure and convenience of touch-tone, according to newspaper reports at the time.
“All of the many things we can do by phone — without interacting with a human — got an awful lot easier with the touch-tone,” said Jon Peha, a professor in engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. “The introduction allowed you to interact with automated systems on the other end in an easy way.”
Although the pound and star keys would not appear until 1968, the first 10-button sets largely resembled the keypads used on billions of mobile and other phones worldwide. The Tribune-Review described the touch-tone approach as “space-age telephony” of “missile-like speed and musical tones” when Greensburg phone users tested the technology in early 1961.
(Excerpt) Read more at triblive.com ...
The important thing is that you’re here now and that you have cell phones.
The kids will survive.
Actually, our daughter and son-in-law, our son and daughter-in-law and the 5 grandchildren, (the GK’s are all under 6 so they are not ready for prime time), are all very well versed in survival. Food, water, guns, ammo, shelter, hunters, fishers, gatherers. Plus the have Papaw and Lala to help and advise.
Thanks for the link!
Interesting, the phone cop in the video was named “Paul Loser”. LOL!
The one I met was named “Teets”, as I recall.
And this was 2 years before the Esquire article.
I still see rotary phones occasionally in elderly peoples houses. Saw one a few days ago.
Are they still renting them from the phone company?
Fascinating.
On another note, I recall reading about a prankster who discovered that a particular whistle in a box of breakfast cereal could “tweet” through AT&T's safeguards. Free long distance was really free...
You should read up on Dr. Jonas Salk. He was one hell of a guy, and he came from 'nothing.' He could have made Billions from it, but he refused to patent it and made it public domain world-wide.
I was in 1st grade when the vaccine was announced. My older brother and sister were part of the 'test group' for the vaccine -- i.e. Guinea pigs ;~)).
I still remember my mother yelling at me not to play in the gutter because I'd get polio. And I spent all my years in school with kids my age who did get it -- wearing leg braces for the rest of their lives. And they were the 'lucky' ones. Lots of kids died from it.
It's hard for people to understand today how important the Salk Vaccine was for people. When that vaccine was announced, and I was only six or seven years old then, it was like a war ended, people were so happy. It was a really big deal and over the years it has saved untold millions of lives around the world.
Good question. I would not doubt it. They must have paid a thousand dollars for that thing by now.
It was an original black one probably from back when you had black or white to choose from.
One of them told me that what made it particularly frightening is how randomly it struck, without regard to race, social class or anything else.
The operator was almost like your personal secretary making that call for you!
Lol...I thought it was Prince Albert.
Captain Crunch
CC
Anyway, tt must've become an institution by the time Sugarloaf recorded this ditty...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4njPe2_rho (enjoy watching an old rotary phone assemble itself in this vid)
ff
I don’t miss the dial as much as I miss the ringing of an actual bell.
When your phone rang...man, you HEARD it! Not like some of these electronic ringers that you can barely hear today.
Regards,
But, some also heard it... and listened to your conversation...
“Uh....one ringy-dingy....uh...two ringy diginies...”
Regards,
>>Then there was the 11911 technique. Dial that number and your phone rang back. Never could figure out why.
Diagnostic for phone company line techs. You don’t want to have to call an operator, give them a number, and then wait for them to dial it to check whether incoming calls are working.
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