#Telephony

[wordfromoursponsor]

"It is predicted that one day telephones will be so small they will be packaged in almost any handy article---sunglasses, for instance. Wherever you are then, you'll be able to communicate quickly and conveniently." (1968)

[humanoidhistory]

1968 videophone demo with Finland's president Urho Kekkonen (left) and Björn Lundvall, an executive with Ericsson of Sweden.

[magnetictapedatastorage]

there's something that's just cute about these. wish they'd stuck around, or that a similar system could have been created for "translating" a number into an easily-pronounced word or phrase, something like T-9. though i guess the possibility for being assigned a phone number that correlates to very undesirable words would make it a liability

[scavengedluxury]

Telephone exchange operator, 1967. From the Budapest Municipal Photography Company archive.

[julieverne]

Also someone called me a nerd because we (my colleagues with 3d printers and myself) were trying to convince other people to get 3d printers so we can print out a 1:1 copy of our building and store it on top of our building (Exactly To Scale) and I mean, he was right, but then I went home and started planning a print of something from the Smithsonian 3d exhibits (telegraphic technology)

[irradiate-space]

Of course, the point of having a "do not use this phone number for [work] business" voicemail message is kind of mooted by the fact that I pick up the phone anyways and then it's someone from [work] and ugh.

If [work] wants me to be available by telephone, they should provide me with a phone.

[smoothtallk]

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[wordfromoursponsor]

Advertising by picturephone in 1964

[sangeersoft]

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[hobo-rg]

in case you're wondering why the middle digit is always either 1 or 0, that's because they used to let you not bother dialing the area code if you were calling within your own area code (which most of the time you were, probably). So the switch had to be able to tell if you were dialing a seven-digit local number or a ten-digit long distance number, and remember this is 1947 and the switch is completely electromechanical (vacuum tubes are not reliable enough; transistors have just been invented and aren't ready for mass production) so it isn't practical to make it store the whole number and count the digits.

So what they did was make all the area codes have a 1 or 0 in the middle, and all the local exchange codes (the first three digits of a seven-digit local number) not have a 0 or 1 in the middle. That way the switch only had to remember the first digit and only until it got the second one.

You'll notice none of the area codes start with 0 or 1 either. 0 was a complete number by itself, meaning "connect me to a human operator". 1 as the first digit must have done something special as well, but I don't know what that was. (Much later, I think it was in the early 1980s, they changed it to "a leading 1 means you're about to dial an area code" because they ran out of area codes with 0 or 1 in the middle. Nowadays, of course, the switch is a computer and it does know how long the number is, which is what makes SMS shortcodes possible.)

The original Area Code map for North America. High population areas got lower numbers because they took less time to dial. (0=10)

[oh-a-very-toxic-octopus]

Me, looking for a civil service job for that dank pension

The civil service website:

[phonesuite]

Explore the evolving diversification of telephone communication in hospitality. Let’s take a closer look at how modern telephony solutions can help you communicate better in a remote working world. Learn More...

[phonesuitedirect]

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how leveraging the next generation of Wi-Fi 6E helps enhance user experiences, reduce operational expenses, and offer insights into why now is the time to embrace 802.11ax in your hotels. Read More...

[dougielombax]

I still have trouble believing that telephony is a real word.

It still catches me by surprise.

Like, what?

It sounds weird hearing it. That’s probably why.

Idk

[itcompanydubai]

[themightyfoo]

Another perspective makes it clearer that those darker areas aren't just shadows

Indiana Bell Switching Center, Columbus, Indiana, 1976.

Architect: Paul Kennon/Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS)

Photography: Carol M. Highsmith