My memory as a five-year-old was having a crank phone and
a party line in our home. It was 1952 and our number was 246-J. Margie Hayden next door was 246-W. We had to click
the arm twice to get the switchboard at Ruff’s Grocery because we couldn't dial it ourselves.
My
next recollection is of a dial phone that sat on the end of our kitchen
cabinet. Our number was Plymouth
8-3684, using the 7 as P and the 5 as L, making it 758-3684. To make a long
distance call we had to go through the operator. Later the area code 415 was added.
When
we called family in Arkansas, I remember my mother saying, “We can only talk
three minutes because it’s too expensive.” Now we can pay a flat rate for unlimited long distance
and talk as long as we want. Toll free 800 numbers help us
avoid those costly “on hold” connections while we wait and wait and wait for
someone to help with our issues.
When
wall hanging phones were invented, it cleared up space on the counter for other
things. Phone books were a must to locate people you wanted to contact;
however, some households wanted unpublished numbers and paid extra NOT to be found.
Next
came the push button faces which cut down on the slow moving dial and we
reached our party twice as fast. Princess phones were
popular for bedrooms and additional extensions but when portable phones came into being, we were
all ecstatic that we could walk around the house talking and not be tethered to
the wall. We could even receive paper copies immediately through fax lines and not have to wait days for snail mail to
arrive.
Features like caller ID, call waiting, and call forwarding kept us in touch with people we wanted, and out of
touch with those we didn’t. The redial button saved
our fingers and the speaker button gave
us hands free communication.
Oh, the internet. All life changed in an instant. We
didn’t need phone books anymore. Whitepages.com and reverse white pages were instantaneous. We could register on the “Do Not Call”
list and eliminate those pesky telemarketers. Next we could bundle our phone, the internet, our cable television, and
pay all of our bills online.
Lastly came
my cell phone.
I have considered going totally with this handy device and cancel my landline but I just can’t seem to let go of something I’ve had
all my life.
I’m
not quite ready for a smart phone mainly
because it won’t fit in my pocket and I DO like to carry my phone around with
me. Besides, I’m just too technologically unskilled to operate a device that
allows you to watch television or movies, get on the internet, text, send and
receive emails, has a GPS, lets you sink your home calendar, gives you a wake-up
call, allows you to watch your house through the alarm company, takes pictures
and video, and on and on and on . . . anyway . . .
We’ve
come a long way, baby!
How
much farther can we go?
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