Goodbye to an Icon
Though this news is not surprising, I experienced a mild bout of inexplicable melancholy upon reading it, recognizing that yet another a slice of nostalgia will soon be relegated to the dusty corners of our museums and memories.
AT&T Inc. plans to exit the pay-phone business by the end of 2008, company officials said Monday.
The largest telephone company in the United States is pulling out of the market at a time when consumers are relying more heavily on alternatives, such as wireless phones. AT&T (NYSE: T) also operates the country’s leading wireless company.
AT&T’s Public Communications unit will continue to honor existing contracts and customer service commitments until the business is phased out. The unit holds numerous contracts at government correctional facilities. All of these customers will receive advance notifications of the company’s specific plans as well as information on other pay-phone providers and product options.
And now I know something of what my grandparents must have experienced, as they watched the rapid pace of change between the turn of the last century and the late 1980′s, when death rapped its final knock on the doors of their respective lives.
Details in the San Antonio Business Journal. (Subscription or registration may be required to view the entire story.)
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6 Responses to “Goodbye to an Icon”
Bah, humbug! I miss rotary phones. (Do you know what those are?)
Yep. Grew up with them. Didn’t have a push-button phone in our house until I was mid- to late-teens.
Last Christmas I was given some DVDs of old teevee shows (some of which are corny, but the old automobiles are just fascinating to watch, even if their tires screech on all kinds of surfaces, including gravel and dirt, as well as on pavement — plus the shows had more intelligence than what we have nowadays). There are plenty of scenes in those shows where I see someone using a rotary phone. That’s what made me think about it when I spotted this thread.
Where I’m currently living, there are “phone from car” sheltered drive-up phone stations that have had their phones removed.
As far as today’s world is also concerned, I thought about how some of those phones won’t take incoming calls and how by removing all the phones, the company avoids drug-deal and other crime-related liability problems if their phones are no longer used. That’s today’s cynical world for you!
AT&T may be dropping the business but there are NEW pay phones getting installed at convenience stores thought out the SF Bay Area AND the phones are getting used a lot.
Why? For 50¢ you get a TEN minute call to Europe, Mexico, Canada, Central & South America.
How? Don’t know but I can’t do that with my land line or cell phone!
What a great idea and with all the soon to be available abandoned pay phone sites becoming available it’s probably going to make somebody a couple of bucks… hummm!
Last paragraph should read:
What a great idea. With all the soon to be abandoned hardwired pay phone sites somebody’s going to come in and make a bundle… hummm!
SteveK- I don’t know how they can charge so little either but it’s probably through the internet.
It’s too bad that pay phones are going away- what happens if there’s an emergency and your cell doesn’t work so there’s no way to call 911?
At least some will still be around, just not in abundance.
Speaking of public amenities- I guess the phones are going the same way as street corner garbage cans. It’s irritating when I want to throw something away and half to walk five blocks before I come across a garbage can…
Ahhhh….. nostalgia!