amateriat
We're all light!
Another challenging week: galfriend's landline has flamed-out.
My line, thankfully, is still up (good thing: the DSL signal all the household computers rely on comes though that one), so I hand her my phone to call Verizon. After a little of the usual phone-tree bingo, she gets live help on the other end, and, after some testing on their end, it's suggested that we test the line from here by plugging in another phone, preferably an ordinary (i.e. non-cordless) phone if we had one handy. We both knew we had one (we'd dug it out during the last big blackout, which was before we lived together), but I knew I'd have to dig a bit to find it.
I'd somehow remembred it as an early touch-tone job from Western Electric, in the form originally designed by Henry Dreyfuss. But, this particular number turned out to be a bit older than that:
Spot the anachronism.
Ah...some rotary action in store! I seem to have recalled that our particular exchange actually still supports rotary-dial phones, which I confirmed when I plugged this one into galfriend's line and commenced dialing my own number after handing my handset to her, saying "prepare to hear a sound you probably haven't heard since graduating college." Then I started dialing.
Everything worked, and sounded dandy. Turns out there was some weird interaction between her cordless phone and the landline itself, and plugging in the rotary (after a five-minute wait for the line to "reset") confirmed this.
I rather liked the ringing of that old phone, too, especially turned down to its lowest setting. It's no wonder that one of the more popular cellular ringtones of late is a sampled clip of a real, old-school phone with a real bell in it. Gotta remember to do that with my cell.
As you can see, with my PowerBook in view, I'm hardly in league with Gen. Ludd, but, like film, I rather regard certain things as more than merely serviceable in this here 21st Century. My film burners, however, get a hell of a lot more action than this phone will, but I'm damn glad that phone's here.
- Barrett
My line, thankfully, is still up (good thing: the DSL signal all the household computers rely on comes though that one), so I hand her my phone to call Verizon. After a little of the usual phone-tree bingo, she gets live help on the other end, and, after some testing on their end, it's suggested that we test the line from here by plugging in another phone, preferably an ordinary (i.e. non-cordless) phone if we had one handy. We both knew we had one (we'd dug it out during the last big blackout, which was before we lived together), but I knew I'd have to dig a bit to find it.
I'd somehow remembred it as an early touch-tone job from Western Electric, in the form originally designed by Henry Dreyfuss. But, this particular number turned out to be a bit older than that:
Spot the anachronism.
Ah...some rotary action in store! I seem to have recalled that our particular exchange actually still supports rotary-dial phones, which I confirmed when I plugged this one into galfriend's line and commenced dialing my own number after handing my handset to her, saying "prepare to hear a sound you probably haven't heard since graduating college." Then I started dialing.
Everything worked, and sounded dandy. Turns out there was some weird interaction between her cordless phone and the landline itself, and plugging in the rotary (after a five-minute wait for the line to "reset") confirmed this.
I rather liked the ringing of that old phone, too, especially turned down to its lowest setting. It's no wonder that one of the more popular cellular ringtones of late is a sampled clip of a real, old-school phone with a real bell in it. Gotta remember to do that with my cell.
As you can see, with my PowerBook in view, I'm hardly in league with Gen. Ludd, but, like film, I rather regard certain things as more than merely serviceable in this here 21st Century. My film burners, however, get a hell of a lot more action than this phone will, but I'm damn glad that phone's here.
- Barrett
Attachments
Last edited:
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
JoeV
Thin Air, Bright Sun
Great shot and story, Barrett. I have a bakelite rotary dial telephone sitting on the desk across the room. My wife purchased it from an antique store, it was from a hotel in Mexico, still has the dial eschution label of the hotel intact. Rings loud and strong, and the audio quality is a notch above the tinny-sounding modern phones. Those carbon elements in the handset give out good quality sound.
Thanks for the story. Old phones are cool.
~Joe
Thanks for the story. Old phones are cool.
~Joe
crawdiddy
qu'est-ce que c'est?
mhv
Registered User
A PowerBook with a hooking latch? Now THAT'S what I call obsolete by current standards!
And that adapter is not even MagSafe....
And that adapter is not even MagSafe....
amateriat
We're all light!
Oh, don't you start...I just replaced a G3 "Pismo" with this thing.
Couldn't get the scratch together for even a used MacBook Pro, so this last-gen PB G4 (all 1.67GHz worth, for $450) was the ticket. All my apps are non-Universal Binary anyway, so the power gain from an early MacBook wouldn't add up to much.
With this machine, besides working faster with PS in the field, I can annoy everybody here with far greater efficiency.
- Barrett
ebolton
Number 7614
A few years ago, I had to explain to my son why they call it "dialing" the phone. ("They used to have a dial on the front with the numbers...")
Later on, we went to my fathers house, where 2 of the 3 phones in his house are still dial phones just like that one. I had to show him (at 15 years old!) how to actually dial the phone.
Lost arts, I guess.
Later on, we went to my fathers house, where 2 of the 3 phones in his house are still dial phones just like that one. I had to show him (at 15 years old!) how to actually dial the phone.
Lost arts, I guess.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Barrett, nice photo. Interesting observations.
I've been wanting a vintage telecom device lately, and you're about to push me over the edge. It started with my Barnack Leica. And then the Underwood.
That is quite a vintage shot, Dan. I like it!