Isn't this the 21st century?
So I called my city's Water Department and I was sitting through one of those interminable automated menu systems. You know, Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed. Press 1 for blah, blah, blah. Anyway, while tapping my fingers, waiting to get to the menu selections, I hear If you have a rotary phone... . A rotary phone? Someone still has a rotary phone? Enough someones that the city felt the need to mention it in their recording? Who has a rotary phone still?!? Do they even make them anymore? Talk about backwards compatibility. My 5.5 year-old son doesn't even have a concept of a phone that you plug into a wall (we've cut the landline and gone all-cellular). To him all phones are called 'cell phones'. I don't think he even knows the iconic shape of a handset. He probably doesn't even know that the "ring" of a phone was called that because there were actuall bells that rung when a call came in.
<old-man-voice>Back in my day, we didn't have buttons, we spun a wheel to dial. You kids with your new-fangled buttons, you've got it easy. I've still got calluses from those wheels.</old-man-voice>
On a similar note, referencing the 21st century and all, where's my damn flying car? I was promised a flying car by the year 2000! I remember being in elementary school, calculating how old I would be in the year 2000 (26), and dreaming of never having to go to school again while driving my flying car.
Oh, well. It's not all bad. I've got a minivan.
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Labels: future, past, technology
3 Comments:
We had a phone with a wheel growing up. It was red. But it was my great grandfathers phone. We pretended it was the bat phone. :)
I have a rotary phone sitting here on my desk...it's turquoise and I love it. I use it a lot. It rings very loudly.
The original number was 615-687-3121 and how do I know? Because it's printed in the center of the dial.
And yes, your fingers DO hurt while dialing until you get used to it. Kids these days have weak fingers!
Well, actually, you wife has a minivan.... Is this why you build so many flying cars our of legos?
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