Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!umich!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: KLUB@maristb.bitnet (Richard Budd) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Good For a Laugh: Polish Payphones Message-ID: <9626@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 12 Jul 90 02:01:32 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 50 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 476, Message 6 of 11 In TELECOM Digest 10/469, Donald E. Kimberlin <0004133373@mcimail. com> writes: > "`Since Polish payphone mechanisms were increased to > 20 zlotys several months ago, 20-zloty coins have gone into hiding. > "`The payphone-sized 20-zlotycoins are selling on the streets > for 200 to 1,000 zlotys apiece.'" (I still say cheap at a thousand > zlotys -- about a dime U.S., isn't it?) Wolf Paul writes: > A Polish colleague of mine informs me that payphones were recently > converted to use a special phone token, which presumably is available > at the official rate at various outlets. > It is interesting how some coins cause such a strong public reaction: > The Susan B. Anthony dollar comes to mind in the US, or the small, > thick, and heavy 1-pound coin in the UK, which was very little used > until 1-pound notes were withdrawn from circulation. Two reasons the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin failed to gain acceptance in the US, even though it was a good idea in those inflationary times, were the Federal Government's unwillingness to withdraw the $1 bill from circulation and the telephone companies' (and vending machine manufacturer's) reluctance to allow pay telephones (and vending machines) to accept the SBA coin. The latter is also a reason you rarely see JFK half dollars anymore. Some people are secure in old habits, even if new adjustments make life easier and save money, because of the feeling they would create inconvenience. These same people tend to ignore the inconvenience created when the cost of a long-distance telephone call requires you to have two pounds of change (I know, that's what Calling Cards are for) or when you can't get a pop because the dollar changer is broken for the umpteenth time. Come to think about it, a dollar token for US telephones wouldn't be a bad idea. Another example: In the early '80's when the US was floundering in its attempt to convert to the metric system, I suggested that Congress pass a law saying that on August 1, 1985, the US will use the metric system for all measurements and if you don't like it, you can move to Liberia (the next largest country in population that uses the US system of measure). Richard Budd Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY KLUB@MARISTB.BITNET