[catnipman]

i remember when we’d write letters to schedule long distance phone calls after 11:00pm when insane LD rates dropped to merely exorbitant rates so our family could afford to briefly speak to my mom’s parents who lived a 100 miles away.

now, 35 years after the breakup of AT&T Bell System monopoly, unlimited phone calls to anywhere in North America cost me under $10.00/month thanks to unlimited competition and practically unlimited advances in technology unleashed by the breakup.

[null and void]

I remember when a call a block way was billed as long distance! Different area code and different carrier (Pacific Bell vs General Telephone).