I’m reading a book from the 80s and there is a reference to the hesitation to make a long distance phone call. it seems it was expensive and rare. It’s free today, of course, but can anyone put this in context for me?
I’m reading a book from the 80s and there is a reference to the hesitation to make a long distance phone call. it seems it was expensive and rare. It’s free today, of course, but can anyone put this in context for me?
Alex G. Bell wrote:
I’m reading a book from the 80s and there is a reference to the hesitation to make a long distance phone call. it seems it was expensive and rare. It’s free today, of course, but can anyone put this in context for me?
What does this have to do with running? Why did you post it in the running forum?
Perhaps you being too stupid to know how to effectively use a dropdown field will give you some insight into the problem you are having.
yet another lame post from poster tmadddhasfne
oh man so Funny!
Reported
Alex G. Bell wrote:
I’m reading a book from the 80s and there is a reference to the hesitation to make a long distance phone call. it seems it was expensive and rare. It’s free today, of course, but can anyone put this in context for me?
for the most part there were not all inclusive plans, at least in the early 80's.
you might spend $5 - $10 for a 10-20 minute call if the distance was far enough
and $5-10 meant a lot more than than now (with another 40 years of inflation)
Good question.
It's all explained here, in a very good song by The Clash.
"The kids in the halls and the pipes in the walls
Make me noises for company
Long distance callers make long distance calls
And the silence makes me lonely
But you really need to listen to it in the context of the song, and it is well conveyed.
Costly yes but after 6pm was cheaper.
The real fear was getting a phone call in the middle of the night: almost always was bad news (accident or death) unless it was me and my immature buddies randomly calling people.
this is why they invented 800 numbers, which still exist for some reason.
But if you really want to go down the rabbit hole, study phone phreaking. How proto-hackers learned all the landline telephone controls and made calls anywhere for free.
Pretty sure it worked (works) with computers and modems
If u really want something interesting - go find out what a party line was. We had one of those when I was a kid. You shared one phone line with the neighbors. No one got their own phone line where I lived.
Alex G. Bell wrote:
I’m reading a book from the 80s and there is a reference to the hesitation to make a long distance phone call. it seems it was expensive and rare. It’s free today, of course, but can anyone put this in context for me?
meter was running from the time the call connected. You raised your voice on the phone as though it helped them hear you long distance and you passed the phone around quickly between family to get their 10-20 sec. It was another time. This is land line pre cell phone im talking--1970s.
Alex G. Bell wrote:
I’m reading a book from the 80s and there is a reference to the hesitation to make a long distance phone call. it seems it was expensive and rare. It’s free today, of course, but can anyone put this in context for me?
The context is that lauching cacca long distance is challenging and can be dangerous if it hits the fan at the get go, so the safety precautions needed also made it expensive back then, but these days we just have squatty potties and cell phones that have changed the economics of the business as well as doing your business.
For context a 15 minute call adjusted for inflation would cost about the same as a one month Flotrack subscription.
kochevnik wrote:
If u really want something interesting - go find out what a party line was. We had one of those when I was a kid. You shared one phone line with the neighbors. No one got their own phone line where I lived.
Picking up the phone at random just to see if anyone else on your street was having a conversation, and being able to listen in if so. You wouldn't want to plan a surprise party, a drug buy, or speak to your mistress or something like that on one of those lines. I was probably 10 years old when they gave us all our own lines so I wasn't having any conversations like that, but it was fun to listen in on the neighbors sometimes. There must have been a click or a tone or something on ours when someone else picked up a phone because I recall at least once being busted. As soon as I picked up, the person talking said "who's listening to us" or something like that.