Back before cellphones

How about sending a fax of an oilwell log via a portable suitcase rotary fax machine that you inserted the handset of the payphone in a cradle on the machine and clipped an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet and stood in a phone booth at -20 below in the dark while the machine rotated away while the scanner made its way across the document, kind like an old gramophone. And then you do page 2....

All the while holding the machine up because there is nothing to set it on.

Crowe wrote:
He had no idea how to use it.

Of course he wouldn't, just like most of us wouldn't know how to use something that was prevalent 75 years ago or something we don't use in everyday life or at our jobs.

True but this was 20 years ago before black rotary desk phones were complete obsolete.

Seen an article that stated that manual transmissions were becoming a theft prevention item because so few people know how to use them.

He had no idea how to use it.

Of course he wouldn't, just like most of us wouldn't know how to use something that was prevalent 75 years ago or something we don't use in everyday life or at our jobs.

I don't know how up to date it is but this link will find a pay phone near you.

BobsYourUncle wrote:
Somewhere in an old box of junk I have an old wall mounted rotary dial phone I salvaged years ago from a house being knocked down.

When I find it I want to set it in front of my grandchildren and ask them to place a call - LOL! I'll pretend to plug it into a computer...

This has been a decade or more back but my old barber in Eldorado had a black rotary desk phone. A young person asked to use the phone to call his Mom to pick him up after the haircut. He had no idea how to use it.

Somewhere in an old box of junk I have an old wall mounted rotary dial phone I salvaged years ago from a house being knocked down.

When I find it I want to set it in front of my grandchildren and ask them to place a call - LOL! I'll pretend to plug it into a computer...

valhalla360 wrote:

2112 wrote:
We were in Medina Tx a few days ago and there is a working pay phone right outside of the Apple Store there. The 1st pay phone I've seen in years.

Are you sure it was working? You do occasionally see old non-functional ones still sitting around.

This thread seems to be the grumpy old man thread. How many want to go back to the old days of mechanical carbureted engines...because those pesky new fangled computers that come with fuel injected engines can fail.

I didn't see this thread that way at all, just remembering the past. One big EMF burst (solar flare or Nuclear blast) and we all might be wishing for the old vehicles from the past. AT&T use to keep underground bunkers to restore communication in just such a event.

I never leave home without my wallet and my cell phone. I broke my ankle in a remote area but was able to get cell service and call for help.

Just upgraded to the new Samsung Ultra S 5g phone.

2112 wrote:
We were in Medina Tx a few days ago and there is a working pay phone right outside of the Apple Store there. The 1st pay phone I've seen in years.

Have to see the humor in that one, LOL

RoyF wrote:
Remember when you could pick up a payphone, put in a dime, dial 0, ask 'information' for the number of Joe Doakes in Peoria, ask the operator to call Joe Doakes person-to-person, and if Joe Doakes was not able to come to the phone then you did not pay for the call and got your dime back.

I grew up in Peoria across the street from Joe!

Anybody know how he's doing? ;)

Mr.Mark wrote:
People may think I'm addicted to my cell phone when I'm grocery shopping because I have my grocery list in my 'reminders' section.

It's perfect, during the days before going to the grocery I will voice text to the list when I see something that I need while at the house. For some reason, the minute I walk into the store, my mind goes blank! LOL!

I have all kind of the things in my phone to remind me of important events.... appointments, the restroom door code at Ralph's grocery store in Palm Springs, CA, etc.

I love technology...... I like the new safety features on my cars (bumper sensors, back-up camera's, lane control, adaptive cruise control, auto braking, etc.) I'm waiting for my flying car!

Safe travels,
MM.

While there are some people simply addicted to them, I think a lot of people who grump about them don't understand they are far more than a phone.

- Similarly, we keep the grocery and other shopping lists on the phone.
- In car navigation, on the cell.
- Alarm clock
- Games and entertainment in the evening.
- Internet for work while we travel.

Oh, yeah, we would drop back to weekends and maybe a week per year instead of averaging 4-8 months camping per year (along with other travels)...because we can work from anywhere.