Requiem for the Disappearing Pay Phone 559
StarEmperor writes "This Washington Post article describes the steady disappearance of pay phones as cell phones become more commonplace. Many pay phones, which used to generate hundreds of dollars per month in revenue, are now used so infrequently that they cost money to operate. I wonder what kind of environmental hazard is posed by junking thousands of pay phones?"
where can I get one? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:where can I get one? (Score:3, Funny)
You've never seen those start-your-own-business things with payphones?
Put them anywhere! tons of revenue!
Check it out! [payphoneconnection.com]
Re:where can I get one? (Score:5, Interesting)
Just my 90-cents-for-the-first-three-minutes-worth...
Ri
"School" payphone case mods (Score:2)
It isn't hard to replace the handset with one that has a sereo jack for a pda/ipod red box. I know, I know, I know: it isn't really a red box unless you solder it from scratch, but still a cool idea.
Disclaimer: This is neither a confession nor a suggestion. I am not admitting to any wrongdoing, accompliship in wrongdoing or premeditation of wrongoing.
Re:"School" payphone case mods (Score:3, Informative)
Re:where can I get one? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:where can I get one? (Score:3, Informative)
Tim
Re:where can I get one? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:where can I get one? (Score:2)
What will happen to 2600 mag? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What will happen to 2600 mag? (Score:5, Insightful)
pay phones might get more use if (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:pay phones might get more use if (Score:2)
Re:pay phones might get more use if (Score:5, Interesting)
That was such a stupid step to take, unless they were looking for everyone to add just one more thing to the list of the benefits of having a cell phone. Payphones always have had two advantages in my mind:
1: They are wired, hence, no fuzz.
2: Just one shiny thing and you could get a call through.
Now that it's 50 cents, I find myself approaching a payphone and finding that I don't have the right amount of change on me. Who cares that it's unlimited? The three minute limit was just fine by me. I'm not exactly making leisure calls at a pay phone. The trade off is ridiculous and is bound to doom the payphones.
PayPhones are good (Score:3, Interesting)
Payphones have all but disappeared around London, since so few calls are made on them and almost everyone has a cell phone. This trend started years ago. When I was last in London cellphones even worked down in the Tube.
One thing disappearing payphones would mean: One more parking place available at finer gas stations and 7-11's everywhere.
Re:pay phones might get more use if (Score:4, Informative)
This is, of course, dependent on the connection. If you buy one from EBay and stick it in your house, you'll get the same busy signal as the rest of us while the china falls from the cupboards.
Just something to note when the stuff hits the fan.
Re:pay phones might get more use if (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:pay phones might get more use if-Disposable Pho (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:pay phones might get more use if (Score:3, Interesting)
The U.S. mobile market may be chaotic because of all of the different "standards" here (CDMA, TDMA, GSM, iDEN, PCS [aka CDMA-1900]), but the competition for customers is so fierce that the companies are doing this.
Mind you, the peak minutes are expensive (I get 400 minutes for $40 and extra minutes are 45 cents), and incoming calls are tallied against that as well -- except during off peak time.
Re:pay phones might get more use if (Score:4, Insightful)
Somehow, I don't see the cost as being the primary issue. If you need to make a call, $0.50 isn't that big of a deal. Hell, it's about half a candy-bar around here.
It sounds like it's becoming a social stigmata to use the urine soaked payphones. As in: "I don't want to look like I'm not good enough/rich enough to have a cell phone."
Without public telephones... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Without public telephones... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Without public telephones... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Without public telephones... (Score:3, Informative)
It obviously didn't fit his requirements, as he went on to a revolving door which he spun at super speed to blur his transformation (which seems moot, after opening his shirt in the middle of a crowded street to reveal the Superman "S.")
Oh well, it's NYC, err, Metropolis-- no one would notice unless he was doing something abberant, like being nice or polite...
The environmental hazard of removing payphones is: (Score:5, Insightful)
-RickTheWizKid
..."Just hang up and DRIVE!"
Re:The environmental hazard of removing payphones (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The environmental hazard of removing payphones (Score:5, Insightful)
Concentrating on Talking while driving actually distracts people from driving well. Bad drivers can often be seen doing all the talking while driving. Basic natural instinct, you cannot devote concentration power to upcoming events (getting cut off and allowing the extra space) and hold a full blown 2 way all out conversation.
Drivers do their best thinking/working shit out because the mind is alive with activity while driving, just don't ask them to concentrate on a conversation with someone else.
Think about it the next time you're driving
Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering.
Re:The environmental hazard of removing payphones (Score:3, Informative)
The difference between talking on a cell phone and talking with a passenger is that the passenger is aware of the driving situation and can halt the conversation and/or call the driver's attention to the road in case of emergency.
Re:The environmental hazard of removing payphones (Score:2)
Obscure Future Rama Joke (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obscure Future Rama Joke (Score:4, Funny)
You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:5, Interesting)
The real question is: are they going to keep operating those phones that lose them money? Should payphones be thought of as something essential like public transportation, and possibly subsidized by the govt?
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:2, Informative)
If you just want the convenience and safety though there are tons of plans for pay-as-you-go. Buy some minutes up front and leave it around for an emergency. If you just need it for 911 then just get someone's old disconnected phone like the battered women's shelters do for people since they can still dial 911. Now, as I think about it, I've not used a payphone since I got a cell phone. Hell, I never have any change for the payphone anyway and it'd be easier to just borrow someone else's phone for a minute if you're in a group and give them a buck or two for the convenience. Payphones carry diseases and god knows what else on them. It'd be like putting a public urinal up to my mouth when you make a phone call. No thanks!
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:2)
That doesn't work with any of the prepaid plans I've looked at in an effort to supply one less outgoing monthly revenue stream to the telecommunications industry.
If you just need it for 911 then just get someone's old disconnected phone like the battered women's shelters do for people since they can still dial 911.
This works, although the cell phone companies would rather it not be general knowledge.
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:5, Interesting)
They are in most countries (either directly as a public service, or indirectly as a consequence of the fact that the Government usually owns the phone company).
It's only in the US that payphones depend on the corporate whim of a for-profit company.
- mark
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:4, Interesting)
It's only in the US that payphones depend on the corporate whim of a for-profit company.
You make it sound like its a bad thing.
Why should my tax money go to help someone loser make a free phone call?
I don't have a problem with the government installing emergency phone booths that are wired to 911 for things like that, but I'll pass on footing the bill for someone else's calls... they get enough of my money as it is!
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:4, Insightful)
Uhh.... who said anything about free calls? They're called pay phones for a reason, you know.
If you're OK with installing and maintaining phones that can call 911 for free, why not also let people put money in them to call other numbers while the phones would otherwise just be sitting around, doing nothing? They'd be hooked up to the phone network anyway, since a dedicated line to the 911 call center would be needlessly expensive.
Sure, maybe those pay calls would be in some sense "subsidized phone calls", but much less so that a car ride just about anywhere is a "subsidized car ride." Somehow I doubt that the cost of subsidizing pay phones would ever come close to that of the massive pork barrel that is the federal-aid highway system (or that we'd ever invade Kazakhstan to secure our chromium supply for those cool little keypad buttons).
That, of course, is the original poster's point -- that perhaps pay phones should be considered a part of the public infrastructure.
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:3, Insightful)
The original poster intimated that other countries pay for the phones.
Setting that aside for a moment, even if the government only paid to maintain them, that is much more maintenance than an emergency phone.
If you're OK with installing and maintaining phones that can call 911 for free, why not also let people put money in them to call other numbers while the phones would otherwise just be sitting around, doing nothing? They'd be hooked up to the phone network anyway, since a dedicated line to the 911 call center would be needlessly expensive.
- Emergency phones don't require as much hardware. They can be a single button you press and talk into a microphone, like what appear on many campuses across America.
- Emergency phones don't need to be stopped by every day to gather the change.
- Emergency phones don't need to be repaired as much because they're not used as much.
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:2, Insightful)
Tim
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:4, Insightful)
Next you'll be telling me that poor people having telephones at all is a criminal mismanagement of funds. I can't imagine why poor people would waste their cash on something as frivolous as a mobile phone. Certainly not to check their messages during the day and try to get a more lucrative job. How absurd! And God forbid a mother should want her children to be able to reach her when they need her, even if she's on the bus.
Cell phones were once exclusively for the very rich. Now they're not. Deal with it.
Re:You wonder about the wrong thing... (Score:3, Interesting)
My dad was a postman, and he used to tell me that almost all the junk mail that was delivered was delivered to the poorest estates. For it was the poorest of the council estates that were buying new TV's, new sofas etc.
I've noticed this over and over again - lower class people mismanaging money, owning huge tv's, expensive sofas etc. The (few) middle class people I knew either didn't have a tv or had a really cheap one. (Although they did take expensive holidays etc.) Expensive cars seem to fit into both categories.
Why does it seem that lower class people are more prone to consumerism? I don't know - perhaps a mixture of no education, depression (just don't care anymore), environment, etc.
Btw, has anyone heard of any studies of comparision of intelligence between upper, middle, and lower class? (I'm aware of the lack of clear divides etc)
p.s. - I'm very much in the lower (or is it 'working' class), so don't take this as arrogance.
Recycling impact? (Score:3, Insightful)
Ummmm. How about approximately 0? How many pay phones per person? Like 1/100 at best. Now think about all of the diapers and soda bottles and old tires and other crap that people throw out without thinking. There are things worth worrying about and then there is the noise.
As for getting rid of pay phones, I'm fine with it. I mean, when was the last time you saw a working pay phone?
How about trashing cellphones? (Score:5, Interesting)
How about junking hundreds of thousands or millions of cellphones. Plus the batteries each unit may go through in a lifetime. There's no way those things last as long as a nice clunky pay phone. I know we have a couple of dead ones around here somewhere, and a lot of people upgrade simply for fashion or features.
Yes, people are looking into recycling the phones. It's difficult because the materials are so heterogeneous, and though a few like tantalum are quite valuable, the labor to break up the phones can outweigh that. A nicer idea -- hand-me-downs [businessweek.com] to less wealthy developing countries, for sale or parts. Cellular phones have a disproportionate value in countries that never got the telephone line infrastructure in the first place.
Re:Recycling impact? (Score:3, Interesting)
Perhaps a more direct metaphor is in order: You're picking up litter in a burning building.
This reminds me... (Score:5, Funny)
Pretty soon (Score:2)
Outside line? (Score:2)
-Berj
Re:Outside line? (Score:5, Funny)
is it where they change into their gangster clothes?
Payphone Disposal (Score:5, Insightful)
How is junking old phones any different then any other waste? Are there uranium pay phones out there? Admit it the u.s. wastes tons pay phone is a tiny tiny part of a very larger picture
Re:Payphone Disposal (Score:4, Funny)
Environment (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably not worse than the millions of home phones that break down or are replaced by newer models. And DEFINITELY not worse than the millions of cell phones - and proprietary batteries - that are starting to be thrown out (what was the statistic I read? Kids in Japan who keep up with "fashion" replace their cell phone every 3 months, and in North America every 18 months? I know, I know, no link, no proof, etc... whatever.)
Re:Environment (Score:3, Insightful)
Too bad.. (Score:3, Interesting)
--Fuzz
Re:Too bad.. (Score:2)
But the last line of the article really caught my attention.
"If I had to do this all over again, I would do it very differently," he said. "I would keep it very, very quiet."
This I don't understand at all. Sure, the Pay Phone in the Middle of Nowhere is gone, but there are still many functional pay phones out there.
Why not pick an arbitrary payphone on some New York street corner, and start calling it? And don't keep it quiet, either--publicize it just as much as the first one. It's bound to be interesting, and fun, even if it isn't the same as calling the original phone.
Better yet, he could have a "pay phone of the month": select a different arbitrary pay phone each month. Imagine the people flocking to call it, and the people flocking to answer it.
It's a simple concept, but I don't think he's even begun to explore its full potential. The original phone had a certain stark beauty to it, but it should be viewed as the beginning, not the be-all and end-all. The end will come when there are no pay phones left to call.
I can see DC Comics incorporating this ... (Score:5, Funny)
[Superman showing Lois around the Fortress of Solitude
Superman: "Lois, we're finally alone"
Lois: "Oh, Superman, I've dreamed of this day for so long"
Superman: "Like they say in AOL, 'Me Too' "
Lois: "This is so perfect...wait...what's that smell?!?"
Superman: "Oops, I'm sorry, Lois, since they took out all the payphones, I have to use dumpsters to change clothes..."
John
British Telecom thinks kiosks are the answer (Score:5, Interesting)
Their answer was to fight back with 'improved' payphones, which were basically mini Internet kiosks. Many payphones in British cities are now these kiosks. You can still make regular calls, but you can also access numerous services like HotMail, etc.
The thing is, I don't know if it's the way to go. I've never seen anyone actually use the Internet facilities on these, and I certainly haven't.
Don't you have an alternative problem in the US though? That is, your cellphone coverage is absolutely awful, and payphones are still needed in most rural areas. It sounds like a good reason to keep them, but.. just don't go over to costly kiosks. They're a waste of time.
'Recycle' them (Score:3, Funny)
Just how common are pay phones, anyway? At least around here in the US Northeast Corridor, there happen to be at least a couple every few blocks, usually clustering near freeway interchanges (because there's always a pay phone at each gas station). Given their ubiquity, I'd guess that telcos could extract some more life out of the old beat-up pay phones by repurposing them as wireless access points or some kind or another, or lease the space for someone else to do it. Just as long as Verizon doesn't put out a new ad asking 'Can you ping me now?'...
Where will they go? (Score:4, Funny)
The main problem with public services such as payphones is other people use them, and I'm not one who likes getting near that kind of "interface". One of the reasons electronic (ie filthy-cashless) POS transactions get the thumbs up from me.
The problem with Payphones is more than just their stupidly high price, it's hygiene too.
What about the telephone sanitizers? (Score:2)
I thought earth's population began with a large number of telephone sanitizers. (Hitchhiker's GttG: Book 3)
Re:Where will they go? (Score:2)
And elevators of course.
I wouldn't be caught dead using a payphone (Score:2)
I'm thinking that payphone operators are making it harder to get a call thru, and subsequently lose your 50 cents. I came across a phone that took 1.50 from me on busy signals! No other phone was to be found (this was a half mile from the U of MN)
I was pissed. If I had been driving my big shitty van, I would've GTA'd the fucker in a heartbeat. Enjoy my illgotten buck fifty, phone bastards.
Turn them into WiFi access points (Score:2, Interesting)
Bell Canada has announced that they are converting some of their thousands of pay phones into 802.11 access points to extend their new WiFi service offering. WiFi-only companies like FatPort [fatport.com] would be wise to follow suit. PayPhones are in the best possible locations for WiFi -- think AirPorts, hotel lobbies, train stations...
Environmental hazard? (Score:2, Insightful)
-Milinar
This is real simple actually ... (Score:2)
Think about it, that's 25 cents a minute, most cellular phone contractual plans are LOWER than this price.
Here's the irony of the story, I didn't have any change either, so I stopped a gentleman to ask him for some change to use the phone, he said he was on his lunch break and had no problem with me using his phone.
I think the saying "everyone has a cell phone" is wrong, but not so untrue, like the computer most people have at least one in their family, if not three or four.
Moral of the story, I got a car charger now and don't try to see if the lithium ion battery can hold a charge for more than 4 days. Totally off topic but motorolla's new phones with a Lithium Ion battery are hella nice and last a rather long time (just not longer than 4 days).
In closing of a long post, it's the price of the payphone that has made them less appealing, and what gets me even more is most of these phone companies who supply payphones ALSO have a division that supply celluar phones. So they really aren't "losing" money as a whole, just certain departments.
I say more emergency solar based Cell Phones Stations on Highways, Interstates, and Rest Stops because technically Cell Phones have to be free when dialing emergency numbers, and being solar you can put them anywhere.
I'm sure "phreakers" and 2600 will be upset though...
Re:This is real simple actually ... (Score:2)
Hmmm don't you think payphone use has gone down because people can't be bothered to carry change? I sure as hell don't... and hell with pulling out my credit card and typing in 20+ more digits. In the convenience society in which we live, the payphone is altmodish.
Re-use? (Score:2)
Don't trash; upgrade! (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I wonder (Score:3, Insightful)
- Go to a phone shop (or supermarket, or toy store, anywhere)
- Buy a prepaid phone.
- Make your call. Do not forget to switch off sending caller ID.
Here in the Netherlands (and the rest of Europe) a very large part (>50%) of mobile phones are prepaid. No subscription or ID required.If you are under 18, you cannot get a subscription, so you'll have to use a prepaid phone, or convince your parents to get a subscription for you.
Don't Junk, Re-Purpose (Score:2, Interesting)
limited coverage (Score:2, Interesting)
I recently switched cell phone providers from Verizon to T-Mobile so I could utilize their GPRS/GSM-based wireless internet service on my laptop (~115Kbps) using my new bluetooth-enabled phone. While CDMA coverage in the U.S. is rather extensive, the GPRS networks that AT&T and T-Mobile have deployed are still very much confined to highly-populated regions of the country.
There I was in Westchester County, NY (about 50 miles N of Manhattan) trying to locate a client's office and imagine my frustration when my brand new GPRS-based phone was out of range. I had to stop at a supermarket and find enough change to call from a payphone - it saved my day.
Re:limited coverage (Score:2, Interesting)
If mobile phones become even more common, it might be time for the government to step in and force cell companies to provide true national coverage with decent capacity for calls. One way to do this could be, placing requirements on building permits for new cell installations, requiring as condition of approval. The other problem is many cells are all ready overloaded with normal call volumes, hopefully additional requirements could be made to force cell providers to have extra capacity, for emergencies, etc.
Re:limited coverage (Score:2)
How about this: as cell phones become more popular, the service providers will accumulate enough revenue to put in more cells and better capacity. As cell phones become more popular, the demand for coverage in remote areas will grow, until it becomes good business to put cells out there.
Once the demand is high enough, the providers will increase the coverage freely, without government intervention, because they know people will pay for it--enough people to make the added coverage profitable.
And if the demand isn't there yet, but the government forces the issue anyway? Who will pay for it? We already know the consumers won't pay for it, because if they would, the phone companies would have done it on their own. We know the providers won't want to pay for it, since they know that without demand they'd only be losing money. So the government would have to pay for it--which means we'd have to pay for it. My taxes would end up paying for a cell deep in the Ozarks that nobody wants or needs or cares about. Or the government would convince the providers to pay for it after all, probably with subsidies (my taxes, again), or concessions that would grant the providers even greater power to exploit the citizenry--the citizenry that doesn't even want true national coverage yet.
Or the government might entice cell phone providers with subsidies--and the caveat that the Office of Homeland Security have administrative access to the cellular networks. "The bad news is, you must provide true national cellular coverage. The good news is, we'll give you taxpayer money to do it, and make a profit. But we get to listen in on everybody's calls."
This country has gotten along pretty well without true national cell coverage so far, and it can probably manage to muddle along a few more years until the market is mature enough to make such a thing plausible without government interference.
Argh. I'm rambling on in an increasingly belligerent fashion. My point is made, so I'll stop now, before I become completely insufferable
This is what _really_ drives mass adoption... (Score:5, Insightful)
The same thing happened to rail transit in most American cities about 40-50 years ago as road systems improved and more people bought automobiles.
So what about emergency calls and the poor? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So what about emergency calls and the poor? (Score:2)
They can still shout for help and run to nearby businesses. I doubt the impact will be large but who knows.
Only Terrorists Use Public Telephones (Score:5, Funny)
How can the government ensure your security if you use public pay phones?
Use your cell phone, or get one! That way your phone records are just a computer away from the people protecting your safety.
Do not assist the Terrorists!
Sorry -- your living in the 80's (Score:3, Informative)
2. Criminals use stolen cell phones [ncl.ac.uk] to make their calls and throw them away every couple of days.
Pay phones were never profitable (Score:3, Insightful)
In general, pay phones were mandated by public safety regulations, not profit motive. Problems ranging from smashed handsets to stolen phone books to smashed window glass plagued public phones constantly.
If pay phones were profitable, why did the Baby Bells allow anyone to start running them? It would have been a very strange business decision given their history of profiteering in the post Ma Bell era.
Pay phones are nowhere near as annoying (Score:5, Insightful)
I could go on and on... it will be sad to see the payphone go. I swear I could strangle the jackass who actually took a call in the theater during the Two Towers last week.
Re:Pay phones are nowhere near as annoying (Score:2)
You forgot "You can't untraceably dial a spammer's 800 number from a cell phone."
Re:Pay phones are nowhere near as annoying (Score:2)
A spammer who emails an 800 number shouldn't be in the business.
Re:Pay phones are nowhere near as annoying (Score:4, Funny)
Why didn't you? Seriously, you paid 8 or 9 bucks to enjoy the movie and you shouldn't put up with some inconsiderate fucktard yacking on his cell phone. Demand, loudly and belligerently, that they hang up (feel free to use the word "fucktard." I like it.) and if that doesn't work, pick a fight with 'em. At the very least you'll get your money's worth of enjoyment out of beating them severely (Or being beaten severely, don't back down even if they're bigger than you. Once you go down that road there's no turning back.)
Most people don't want to get in a fight so I doubt it'd ever come to blows anyway, and the audience will think you're a hero no matter the outcome. It's up to us all to stamp out the scourge of cell phones users in the movie theater.
And yes, I walk that walk, though since I pay my tribute to the MPAA as rarely as possible I've only ever had to demand that someone turn their phone off once (It was G or PG so I said "jackass" and not "fucktard" -- see, I'm considerate!) and didn't even have to threaten physical violence. He hung up, politely watched the movie and cleared out of the theater almost before the credits hit the screen. I hope the experience was traumatic enough for him that he will be more polite in the future.
Re:Pay phones are nowhere near as annoying (Score:3, Funny)
So much BS, so little time. (Score:5, Insightful)
I could go on and on too. I swear I could strangle the jackasses who confuse the tools people use with the stupid things they do with the tools. I could also strangle the jackasses who have cellphone envy and try to mask it as some kind of superiority.
I work hard to make sure I have the resources to live the kind of life I want to live. I want the ability to stay in touch with people I go shopping with so we don't have to agree to meet at the food court. If my girlfriend is in a car accident again, I want her to be able to reach me as soon as possible. If there's an earthquake and I'm trapped in a building, I want to be able to call for help and tell them I'm alive but bleeding and running out of air. If I'm on an airplane and hostages take over with box cutters, I want to say goodbye to my girlfriend before the plane runs into a building.
I'm tired of anti-cellphone BS. There are no legitimate complaints against the phones themselves, and the complaints about the users have nothing to do with the phones.
Grow up, people.
Re:So much BS, so little time. (Score:5, Funny)
I agree. It's not that the cellphones themselves are bad, they are just one more tool for people who tend to be rude and inconsiderate (the same type of people who talk, wear big hats, and don't bathe). Blaming the technology for the way it is used is total bullshit.
I often carry my cell phone in movies and restaurants, but I put the ringer on vibrate. If it rings, you have to be right next to me to even hear it buzz. I check the caller ID, and if it's someone I absolutely need to speak with I answer it, and quietly tell them to hold while I step out of the theatre. If not, I let it go to voicemail and check it after the show.
Are there a lot of phones that don't have vibrate? Or just a lot of people who don't care about irritating the people around them? I think it's less an issue of invasive technology, and more an issue of a culture of self-obsession.
Case in point:
I was in a theatre this past weekend. Outside the auditorium there was a bigass sign that said "Cellphone Free Zone". During the trailers, there was an announcement to turn off your cellphone. But sure enough, halfway through the movie, a cellphone rang in the row behind me, and the woman not only answered it, but sat there and carried on a conversation. No doubt, the woman felt she was above any petty social convention, and she was too important for the "rules" to apply to her.
At this point, I lost my patience and decided to teach her a lesson about social convention. I stood up, turned around, and announced loudly, "turn off your phone or I will whip out my dick and piss on you!" I think she thought I was kidding until I reached for my fly. Then she told the caller "gotta go" and just hung up. I said, "thank you for your cooperation," sat back down, and tried hard not to ruin the moment by laughing my ass off...
Wonderful. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Wonderful. (Score:2)
Anyway, quit your whining.
Slashdotted and mods... (Score:2, Interesting)
wtf?! (Score:2, Funny)
You mean I've been putting my money into them for all this time for nothing?!
Seriously though, perhaps if phone companies want to perpetuate the phone booth they should do more stuff like this [bt.com].
Sure, it can't be that good for profit, but it's bound to increase the popularity. But if you want to increase profit, there was a scheme a few years back where people listened to an advertisement at the start of a call to increase telco revenue. I've never seen (or heard) this done. Why not?
They shouldn't have raised the cost to $.35 (Score:2)
Honestly the only time I really ever used payphones was from high school to call mom to pick me up after sporting events.
NO Service Plan Required for Cellular 911 Calls (Score:2)
There are even various organizations that collect old cell phones and distribute them for emergency 911 use.
In fact it's against the law for a carrier to knowingly block any 911 cellular call regardless of the tower(s) (assuming it's compatible with the phone being used) it's routed through nor the phone its dialed from.
Bottom line is that absolutely NO service plan of any kind is necessary for 911 access and thus the "we need to save pay phones for 911 use" is a mute argument...now in regards to Clark Kent/Superman...not sure what he'll do now
Re:Superman (Score:2)
Not ONCE In a phone booth!
I mean they went at it on the ceiling, in outer space, on clouds above the city, but not ONCE In a phone booth!
Re:NO Service Plan Required for Cellular 911 Calls (Score:2)
Hate to nit pick, but this one really grates on my nerves. The word you want here is moot, not mute. Mute means unable to speek, moot means without significance. My wife does this and it drives me stright up the wall.
mailboxes are disappearing too (Score:4, Interesting)
I Wonder Why Pay Phones Don't Make Any Money. (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, do I have a rant for y'all.
===
Gather 'round the pixels, folks, and let a still green traveller relate a story from the olden days...
End of September, actually. Toorcon -- I flew out to San Diego to join Hikari's bad ass hackfest. Was so excited that I'd actually gotten my degree three days previous (not -- but that's another story entirely) that I didn't even think to check *where* in San Diego I was going.
Lesson #1: For f*ck's sake, know where you're going after the airport.
Figured I'd just check the net when I got there. *laughs*
Lesson #2: For f*ck's sake, KNOW you'll never get a net connection when you really, really need one. (Reference: "The Inverse Square Law vs. The Presence of Microsoft Powerpoint: May The Enemy Never Discover The Network Cloaking Power of Talking To People When Powerpoint Is On")
So. Rumor has it San Diego's Airport got a new water fountain once...it's talked about in hushed whispers, the emergency budget excess of 1983 brought a quenched thirst upon every traveler since. According to legend, other plumbing amenities relating to the invention of running water shall someday visit themselves upon this fine structure.
No friendly arrows, no Internet Cafe's -- and though the Starbucks served coffee, it came in Disass only. There wasn't even a poorly secured baggage handling network waiting to provide me with my next stop (not that I'd ever poke around an airport network; for God sakes lad, they have guns! And Latex Gloves! I plead Joey's Soverignty!)
So what could I do? Went to call my apartment.
On a Pay Phone.
Lesson #3: For f*ck's sake, buy a cell phone. Seven Eleven has them. They're FREE(after many rebates you'll never recieve). There's a REASON they're so profitable -- because PAY PHONES NOW SUCK.
Proof:
You want proof? My previous ranting is insufficient to show that I indeed know large scale suckitude when I recognize it in my cold, not quite dead flesh?
Got some overpriced food. Requested change in quarters -- I was off to the telephone to get fully ripped off, but there's a LOT of hotels in SD and I didn't much prefer to check each one.
"Bzzzzzz. I'm sorry, this phone doesn't accept coins for long distance calls."
Lesson #4: Remember how you heard that pay phones weren't making money? They mispelled "taking".
After bitching and moaning, I remembered I could charge my card to my credit card. Yes! Maybe my legal tender, unconstitutional to refuse (but we'll ignore that) couldn't get me moving, but surely the mighty power of Visa -- it's everywhere I want to be, and I want to be in a nice bed, and in that bed...er, anyway.
"Thank you for calling 1-800-CALL-ATT. For a credit card call, press this number or we'll sic Carrot Top on you."
"Thank you for selecting a credit card call. If you have a Mastercard, press 1. If you have an American Express, press 2. If you have a Discover Card, press 3. If you have a Visa, get a very strange look on your face."
"Thank you for getting a very strange look on your face. An operator will be with you shortly to further refuse payment for services."
You have to understand. I just graduated, I've got a LONG trip ahead of me -- this is right before the Singapore trip -- of all the problems I imagined possible, not having enough to pay for a single phone call was rather disconcerting.
I briefly considered my options for having myself placed under arrest. I hear those guys get a phone call. But then I realized their call is on a pay phone too. Oops.
Ended up calling my mother's company on their 800 number, tail between my legs, begging for info off a single web page. You'd THINK it ends here...
'cept the person I reach, despite the net connection on her desk, doesn't particularly know what to do with it. So she calls her husband. To access the net. For me.
Ever browsed the web through a listener that doesn't know what she's hearing but has to translate it into something she's saying? You Will, and the company that will bring it to you...
Anyway, no reason to rant further -- it was one heck of a trip, an absolute blast -- but indeed, no matter what country I ended up in, the pay phones were as spastic as an epiliptic monkey with a broken pacemaker.
I did like the 90 second pay phones, that took 75 seconds to establish a call. talkfastdoesn'tevenbegintocoverit
Needless to say, I am now vastly more knowledgable about that which is GSM.
--Dan
If pay phones were run by the record industry... (Score:4, Insightful)
If pay phones were run by the record industry...
1. Cel phones would be illegal because they give you all the benefits of a pay phone but through a new, uncontrolled medium.
2. Every time you placed a call you would pay a tariff to support the money lost due to illegal use of cel phones.
3. Phone companies would be appealing to the government to subsidize lost revenues due to low demand for pay phones.
4. You could buy your own cel phone through approved channels but it would cost twice as much as a pay phone even though they cost a fraction as much to make.
5. There would eventually be thousands of approved cel phones on the market but they would all look the same, they'd work the same, and if you didn't want the same thing as everyone else you'd be called a thief for not buying it anyway...
Environmental Hazards? (Score:3, Insightful)
The fact that large companies (like phone companies or even large corporations) are now being watched closely when disposing of potentially dangerous materials (including computers) means they will probably be stripped, recycled, or waste-reclaimed in China somewhere.
Not many of these phones would hit landfills as "phones" at any rate, unlike the thousands of Cell Phones that people tend to toss out like household garbage, complete with batteries, etc.
Maeryk
I can remember (Score:2, Funny)
Re:land: own or right? (Score:3, Insightful)
So no they dont own the land, it's leased. At least here in CA that seems to be the case.