On Fri, 8 Jun 2001, Jim Strickland wrote:
> I would have thought the advent and wide deployment of digital switches
> was what made it impossible. If not that, then surely the modern
> switches have anti-phreaking software built in.
One would be led to think that, but it is, in fact, the inability of mere
mortals to unscrew the mouthpiece. Get into the mouthpiece and the phone
networks are yours!
> The irony is that the era of the public phone is coming to an end, as
> they've been almost completely supplanted by cell phones, except
> perhaps in airports and the like.
PacBell apparently has relatively few payphones remaining in their
network. I'm surprised we still have payphones. It'll be a shame when
they're all removed though. I have a cell phone, but until the phone
companies complete the seemless cell network nationwide, you never know
when you'll need a payphone.
> the matter to rights. Mindboggling. I begin to see how people
> burn through serious airtime in a month now. Seductive technology.
> I wonder how we managed without it.
Of course, cell phone rates have not followed the normal logic. They
remain high today despite the fact that they are used as much as land
lines. We need a good price war to normalize the rates.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
Received on Fri Jun 08 2001 - 11:25:00 BST