It was called a telephone.
When it rang you walked over to answer, unless you were sitting in a chair right by it. If you were outside, you might hear the ring or you might not. If not, you were at peace. If it was important, whoever it was, would call back.
When you picked up on a call, you talked. The other person talked. You could understand every word. The voice from the other end didn’t sound as though it was transmitted through a snorkel tube 30 feet underwater. Calls were not dropped.
When you finished, you hung up and spent time in your immediate, non-virtual surroundings. You could go hours without having your train of thought derailed.
These phones were indestructible. You’d be hard put to break one with a hammer.
If you were in your car, no one called you. You didn’t call anyone. No one ever died because someone slammed into their car while blabbing away.
If, while in the store, you overheard someone talking to themselves in full voice, you could assume they were a little off-center.
You could not lose your telephone. For one thing, it was too big to lose. For another, it was attached to the wall and you could not unplug it. If someone broke in, however, you could probably rip the cord loose from the wall, clobber the guy with it and stop the invasion cold.
Try that with your iPhone.
If it was a wall phone, never mind trying to rip it down. If you were in a hurry, you’d need a crowbar. If you had that, you could use it and spare the damage to the wall.
So, have things improved?
Well, at least we are all more ADD now.
Hmmm. Maybe these phones weren’t so dumb after all.
What memories do you have of phones when they were just telephones?
In what ways to you think modern technology causes not only gains but losses?
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Adam Shields says
I remember sitting around for hours at a time waiting for someone to call. Don’t miss that part at all.
Ken Rosentrater says
I remember that too, and you are right, it’s not something I miss much. Although, there’s an exquisite pleasure in anticipation of a good thing and then finally having that anticipation fulfilled! Instant everything tends to take the shine off anticipation.
Bill says
How they worked was not as obvious as we think.
I was at a telephone pioneers museum where they had a display with two telephones and the old mechanical switches between them. A card instructed us to “dial 50” to move the switches and cause the other phone to ring. Some young teenagers were reading that and trying to figure out how to manipulate the telephone dial to make it work.
Since I was the old guy in the room, they finally turned to me and asked for a demonstration.
Ken Rosentrater says
Oh yes, there was, and is, a lot of unseen infrastructure to things we think are simple.
David says
Nearly all the phones looked alike with slight variations of color. Which is okay since you didn’t actually own them anyway. Very egalitarian.
If you were talking to someone, no one else could call. Or if you were checking your BBS messages, you weren’t troubled by someone calling.
Your family called at night because it was cheaper.
It was rare for someone to be speaking to you while seated in the bathroom (whew).
Ken Rosentrater says
“Egalitarian” is a word that fits, but didn’t come to mind when I was writing this.
Now that you mention it, rare indeed (in my experience) was a phone in the bathroom.
How many times have I seen and heard guys blabbing away in airport restrooms, with all the…interesting accompanying background sounds.
Is there any conversation in the world that urgent?
Bryan Chalker says
I really liked this post.
My father worked for Southern Bell/AT&T, as a lineman – which was cool for us. We could watch him climb the poles with the hooked spurs, and he would call us from his “cool phone” that he would connect directly to the line. One day (very early 80s), he brought home a “video phone” they gave to him to learn on. It was a sprawling mass of cables, with clunky B&W screens and beige plastic parts. But it was so cool thinking about it working. We knew we couldn’t ever use it – It costs thousands, and it required the same set up on the other line. But still – so cool.
It’s neat seeing the progression to what we have now, but back then – the awe was there. We got excited about the emerging technology…now my kids are spoiled from it, and not as impressed when something new comes along.
Ken Rosentrater says
I remember watching those linemen too. In fact, my Mom told me once that I came into the house after being transfixed by the sight, with some crazy thing attached to my shoes, and I said “I got climbers”.
I think there are still guys who do that.
You are right that people are not easily impressed now. Call it technology inflation. Print more money and each dollar is less valuable. Multiply technological advances and each one seems less stellar.
Greg says
I remember long distance phone calls with family were extra special and you didn’t waste any time. It was too expensive.
Ken Rosentrater says
I remember that too. Long distance calls were special. I called home from college maybe 2 or 3 times in a year.
Matt Brier says
I remember being limited in how long I could talk on the phone and when because we had one line, no call waiting, and if I was on the phone then no incoming calls were coming through. Was worse when we got our first modem and I tied up the line logging into BBS’es all of the time.
So many leaps forwards with cell phones from an accessibility perspective.
One big downside: Caller expectations are raised or “why do you have a cell phone if you aren’t going to answer it?” I grew up with people not being able to contact me 24/7/365, just because the ability now exists doesn’t mean I’m going to let you abuse it.
Ken Rosentrater says
That’s good. Don’t let people abuse it.
It is funny, though. My aunt in Idaho has an old phone in her living room, and when you call, she answers. I know people who, when they each got a cell phone plus still had their land line, were harder to reach than ever before, when they only had the land line. It is ironic to increase the means of connection in order to screen people out, thus making connection more difficult.