Wow. I just got a busy signal!

[TheSeeker]

I made a phone call a little while ago and got a busy signal. It then occurred to me that this was the first time in a long, long time that I have actually gotten one. I guess with today's technology there aren't too many people out there without voicemail or call waiting.

Are there any other things like this that we just don't see much of anymore?

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Someone recently sent me a picture postcard from their vacation, and I realized it had been years since I'd last received one.

I know what you mean about busy signals. I called my 88-year-old aunt the other day, and was totally startled to get one. She does have vm (or an old answering machine?), but apparently it only picks up when she doesn't answer, not when she's on the phone.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

You ever get the fast busy signal? I do sometimes, when the cell network is over capacity. Very annoying.

 

[SPCTRE]

At work I'm regularly direct-dialling people at other companies, so I get busy signals quite often.

But yeah, I can't remember the last time I got one when calling a private phone number.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

At work I'm regularly direct-dialling people at other companies, so I get busy signals quite often.

Wow, I'm used to even direct numbers at businesses being picked up by voice mail.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Old lady voice: "If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you need help, hang up and dial your operator."

I'm not sure if they still use this message but it was the same for years and years (and years).

I always found that be a particularly annoying message. "If I'd like to make a call ..." No, I just like to pick up the phone and press the shiny buttons to hear the noises they make.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I wonder if that lady got royalties.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

^ Please send that back to its own thread.

 

[Sector 7]

Yesterday, I was calling around for prices on a new set of tires. One number I dialed gave me this recording, "AT&T can connect you to a similar business at no charge, because the business you called is no longer at this number." I would not have minded the offer except my other two choices were a specialty food company and Charlotte Motor Speedway... neither has anything to do with selling tires for my car!

 

[ThankQ]

Ever seen a teenager encounter a rotary phone? It can be amusing!

 

[Sector 7]

Ever seen a teenager encounter a rotary phone? It can be amusing!

Have you seen the movie Aliens in the Attic? There is just such a scene. It is hilarious.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

My grandparents had a rotary phone when I was a kid. I was fascinated by it as I'd never seen one before.

"What's that?"
"It's a phone."
"No it's not! It doesn't have any buttons!"

I think I was 5.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

^Cute. I grew up w/ a rotary phone. And no area code, of course. Or ZIP code.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

^Cute. I grew up w/ a rotary phone. And no area code, of course. Or ZIP code.

Were all the phone numbers 2 digits, too?

 

[ThankQ]

^Cute. I grew up w/ a rotary phone. And no area code, of course. Or ZIP code.

I had an ornery great grandfather. He used to tell his his first phone number was "5".

 

[Niorah]

^Cute. I grew up w/ a rotary phone.

Me too. My grandmother had a very old one, it was all black and so heavy I couldn't lift the whole thing. At my house instead we had a terrific and so much better brand new one... in grey, lighter, cheaper plastic.

I used to love it so much that I used to spend some time every day dialling numbers (without actually picking up the phone though, so no astronomical bills for me ).

I miss it. I miss the noise it made when you were dialling away. It was sooooo cool.

 

[Sector 7]

My little girl would answer the phone, talk away, then hang up. Often we never knew who called. Eventually, friends and family learned to call back until an adult answered the phone. She is a mommy of four now, but still loves to talk on the phone!

 

[Guartho]

I remember having to set my modem to pulse-dial in order to use it at my Grandma's house.

 

[ThankQ]

I remember having to set my modem to pulse-dial in order to use it at my Grandma's house.

I remember playing outside

 

[Holdfast]

I kind of miss the tactile quality of rotary dialling. It also looked pretty slick to rotary dial using a pen rather than your finger (yeah, I'm easily impressed).