Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!rutgers!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Panel Telephones & Bell System "Turkeys" of the 1960's Message-ID: Date: 12 Oct 89 02:56:44 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 21 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 443, message 3 of 3 The majority of public telephones at San Jose and San Francisco International airports are of the "panel" variety. There are also many of them in the BART stations and in many public buildings. It is very strange to hear them spoken of as if they were extinct. I also remember the "three-slot" type which looked very much like the single slot but apparently had the standard (of the era) "dings" and "gongs" mechanism behind the panel. However, while we're on the subject of turkeys, the "card dialer" deserves at least an honorable mention. The touch tone model, while a little spiffier than its rotary counterpart, seemed to be a journey to the absurd. The effort in locating the correct card, inserting it into the slot, then letting it dial was more effort than dialing the number in the first place. Programming the cards (by punching out the little holes) was an exercise in complexity. And then of course, you couldn't reprogram the cards; they were discarded, meaning that you had to depend on telco for an endless supply. The cards were not free. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !