Number PULEAZE! Part Seven:

[circlew]

Touch-a-matic

My friend Jeff got one in green back in the early 80's. He took it with him when he moved to S.F. CA in '85. I used it a couple times when I was there to visit. The buttons were too small, and made it easy to hit the wrong one. The handset was also strange to hold. This wasn't one of Western Electric's best ideas.

My cousins in Texas also had a Touch-a-matic phone, but theirs was much larger. That one had hold, plus 5 line buttons for the 1A2 key system. It was much easier to use.

 

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Bell System 1979

 

 

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Western Electric 1927

 

 

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[novum]

It’s still very applicable these days— all of this stuff we’re using on our smartphones is relying on vast networks of powerful data centres scattered all over the world, often very much invisible…

 

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Bell System 1965

 

 

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Western Electric 1924

 

 

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Bell Telephone 1959

 

 

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General Telephone & Electronics 1960

 

 

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Bell System 1964

 

 

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[circlew]

GTE

"phoneways in the sky". Maybe that's why their service was so lousy - sounded like we were using walkie talkies instead of telephones. We had that phone company up until they sold to Verizon, the Frontier. Anyone else have the misfortune of having to use GTE phone service?

 

[wayupnorth]

We started with Ma Bell, to New England Telephone, to AT&T, to Lucent, to Verizon, to FairPoint and now Consolidated Communications whos call center is in Asia. You cant understand them and they cant understand you. Since Ma Bell, when you called repair, etc. you got a real person in this state, not anymore.

 

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Western Electric 1960

 

 

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1978 ITT, Belgium BTMC-78

 

 

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Columbia 1923

 

 

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Wesco 1907

 

 

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Bell Telephone System 1961

 

 

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Bell Systems 1959

 

 

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Western Electric 1918

 

 

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Western Electric 1956

 

 

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Easophones 1916

 

 

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Bell System 1966