The Busy Signal....forgotten things from recent past...

a reply to: Vasa Croe

A real gem.

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: Vasa Croe

A real gem.

I don't even know what the hell that thing is....

a reply to: Vasa Croe

God I hate the sound of a busy signal, it enrages me. Thank god for call waiting and FU if you don't have a form of call waiting and I get a busy signal!

Ah, the PDA. That awkward transition device from cell phones to smart phones. You had your trusty Nokia brick, and a Palm Pilot. Personal Digital Assistants were a sign of affluence for a long time, if you had one, you were somebody. And oh man, if it had a color display, you were a rockstar.

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

You are coming up with some greats! Seems like I still find these things whenever I am cleaning out old boxes in the closet or attic....for some reason I keep putting them back in and keeping them....

Where I work we still get gaylords full of them for recycling.....

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I'm a fan of tech from the late 80's or early 90's. Truly a wonderous (if awkward) time for technology. Innovations were coming at breakneck speeds and some trends lasted only months before something better came along. It was an exciting time to be a techie person for sure!

Wow.
People don't know what a busy signal is/was?

When I was a kid, we had party lines.

Telephone companies offered party lines since the late 1800s, although subscribers in all but the most rural areas may have had the option to upgrade to private line service at an additional monthly charge. The service was common in sparsely-populated areas where remote properties are spread across large distances, such as Australia (where these were operated by the Government Post Master General department). In rural areas in the early twentieth century, additional subscribers and telephones, often numbered in several dozen, were frequently connected to the single loop available.

Wikipedia: Party Lines

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: Vasa Croe

A real gem.

I don't even know what the hell that thing is....

It's a Sinclair C5 circa 1985.


en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

So, you were also ahead of the game, like Bobby Fisher?, yeah, me too. This was me - settin the trend..........




That's right ladies, there can be only one (streaks ahead of my time - thanks Grandma)

originally posted by: alldaylong

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: Vasa Croe

A real gem.

I don't even know what the hell that thing is....

It's a Sinclair C5 circa 1985.


en.wikipedia.org...

Holy Crap! Someone modified one of those and added a jet engine!

originally posted by: butcherguy
Wow.
People don't know what a busy signal is/was?

When I was a kid, we had party lines.

Telephone companies offered party lines since the late 1800s, although subscribers in all but the most rural areas may have had the option to upgrade to private line service at an additional monthly charge. The service was common in sparsely-populated areas where remote properties are spread across large distances, such as Australia (where these were operated by the Government Post Master General department). In rural areas in the early twentieth century, additional subscribers and telephones, often numbered in several dozen, were frequently connected to the single loop available.

Wikipedia: Party Lines

Party lines are one thing I wish I could have been around for. My dad and mom have talked to me about them a while back. I was born in the mid-late seventies so I was a bit young for those, though I believe they were still around in some smaller towns.

I can remember being young and my mother being in a lazy mood, writing my brother and I a note saying "Please sell these children cigarettes" (or an approximation), and sending up to the store with a 2 dollar bill (Canada). I can't imagine that happening now.

I miss special Christmas TV, now that its drowned out in thousands of channels. It used to be an occasion - now its an also ran.

Also - as an avd trekkie - there are 10 year old kids who have grown up without a current Star Trek series on TV.

I also miss genuine pub-quizzes, where no one could cheat because smart phones weren't invented.

Lastly, I miss genuine sport where money didn't do all the talking.

a reply to: Sublimecraft

Ha! Talk about overheating your laptop quickly....that looks like my nightmare....claustrophobia and hot....not a good combo!

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: butcherguy
Wow.
People don't know what a busy signal is/was?

When I was a kid, we had party lines.

Telephone companies offered party lines since the late 1800s, although subscribers in all but the most rural areas may have had the option to upgrade to private line service at an additional monthly charge. The service was common in sparsely-populated areas where remote properties are spread across large distances, such as Australia (where these were operated by the Government Post Master General department). In rural areas in the early twentieth century, additional subscribers and telephones, often numbered in several dozen, were frequently connected to the single loop available.

Wikipedia: Party Lines

Party lines are one thing I wish I could have been around for. My dad and mom have talked to me about them a while back. I was born in the mid-late seventies so I was a bit young for those, though I believe they were still around in some smaller towns.

We had them until the mid-seventies where I grew up in rural Pennsylvania. Each line on the loop had its own distinctive ring, like Morse code. Ours was three 'longs', my grandmother's was 'two longs and a short'.
To make a call, you would pick up the receiver and listen, if there was no dial tone, someone else was on the line. Usually you would hear them talking as soon as you lifted the receiver.
And yes, people could listen to your calls.

a reply to: vonspurter

Nice ones. The pencil/tape one made me laugh.

Here's one for the ages:

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I'm kinda glad I grew up in my late teens and early twenties in the transition phase. I still remember pulling over to a gas station to use a pay phone to call someone with my piece of paper scribbled with phone numbers.
Or going through a 'gate keeper' to ask to talk to a friend, "hi is so and so there?".

I also remember tho the issues with wireless network woes, going under a bridge, out of town, cell dying after 7 hours. Crappy picture quality, annoying ring tones..

I'm in my late twenties now, and I use a watch, I have a good camera, and if I didn't want to spend extra cash on a land line I would get one, I've heard the quality on old rotary phones is excellent.
But I have smart phone that does everything for me, lasts 28 hours on a single charge, I don't need all that old stuff.

We used to have these SSP cars

originally posted by: butcherguy
Wow.
People don't know what a busy signal is/was?

When I was a kid, we had party lines.

Yep! For a long time, we didn't have 1+ service, either.