Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!lll-winken!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: gabe@sirius.ctr.columbia.edu (Gabe Wiener) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Phones That Last Forever Message-ID: Date: 3 Oct 89 17:15:02 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Gabe Wiener Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research Lines: 19 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 426, message 4 of 8 I was just thinking about the 2500 set I had in my house when I was growing up in the 1970's. Over about 8 years that we had it, the thing got tossed around, was dropped more times than I care to mention, and it never developed one problem. Were you to take an AT&T 2500 set manufactured today, I doubt it would survive even one fall to a hard floor. Interesting, isn't it, how even AT&T builds phones differently when they know that they won't be maintaining them forevermore. Frequently, you can go into some back-roads store and see a 500 set that's been working fine since the '50's. I dare say that in 30 years it will STILL be working fine after all the phones manufactured today are long gone. Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings gabe@ctr.columbia.edu to be seriously considered as a means of gmw1@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu communication. The device is inherently of 72355.1226@compuserve.com no value to us." -Western Union memo, 1877