In my day we had to dial - and I mean rotary, none of that modern push-button stuff. And you had to stay connected to the wall - none of this whiper-snapper-go-where-you-want garbage. Ah, the good old days.
Got Ya’ Joe. We were on a party line and I recall being able to hear conversations by others at times. I even recall making a call and the operator called me by name. Scared me but it turned out to be a neighbor who was an operator and she recognized my voice. I was just a kid at the time.
We had a party line when I was little - I found out about that by surprise - I once picked up the phone and someone else was talking, and I said something like “who are YOU?”
Boy, did I catch it from my parents for that one… :)
Turned out that the other “party” (we were lucky - we only had to share with one other) was a sweet elderly couple that lived next door. I still remember the old man fixing one of my toys with a pair of pliers and some coat-hanger wire.
BTW - does anyone else remember the days when a telephone handpiece qualified as a blunt instrument?
My first cell phone was an analog AT&T “bag phone” - would still work great except, of course, for the fact there are no more analog cell systems. Put out a three-watt signal compared to the standard (at the time) one-half watt. Probably fried my brain - maybe THAT’S my problem…
It was ALSO years ago I had the analog bag phone (which I still have, for some reason - it’s cool?). There WAS a time, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, when cell phones were analog.
ksoskins about 14 years ago
His dad’s an OG [Original Gadget].
Colt9033 about 14 years ago
Grumby old phones
cdward about 14 years ago
In my day we had to dial - and I mean rotary, none of that modern push-button stuff. And you had to stay connected to the wall - none of this whiper-snapper-go-where-you-want garbage. Ah, the good old days.
Anandgyan about 14 years ago
That’s a good one!
MobyD about 14 years ago
Heh. Back when I was a boy, a mobile phone was one with a 25-foot cord on the handset. Calling beyond the next town over was long distance.
grampaspot about 14 years ago
Does anybody remember picking up the phone and a voice says, “Number please.”
lewisbower about 14 years ago
and you had to write the number in pencil on the wall.
grampaspot about 14 years ago
Got Ya’ Joe. We were on a party line and I recall being able to hear conversations by others at times. I even recall making a call and the operator called me by name. Scared me but it turned out to be a neighbor who was an operator and she recognized my voice. I was just a kid at the time.
zev.farkas about 14 years ago
We had a party line when I was little - I found out about that by surprise - I once picked up the phone and someone else was talking, and I said something like “who are YOU?”
Boy, did I catch it from my parents for that one… :)
Turned out that the other “party” (we were lucky - we only had to share with one other) was a sweet elderly couple that lived next door. I still remember the old man fixing one of my toys with a pair of pliers and some coat-hanger wire.
BTW - does anyone else remember the days when a telephone handpiece qualified as a blunt instrument?
Ushindi about 14 years ago
My first cell phone was an analog AT&T “bag phone” - would still work great except, of course, for the fact there are no more analog cell systems. Put out a three-watt signal compared to the standard (at the time) one-half watt. Probably fried my brain - maybe THAT’S my problem…
Ushindi about 14 years ago
It was ALSO years ago I had the analog bag phone (which I still have, for some reason - it’s cool?). There WAS a time, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, when cell phones were analog.