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@paul_ipv6 @VickForcella @SteveBellovin @inthehands
Believe it or not, there were person-sized kiosks every block or so containing large books of telephone users in the local geographic area, with a unique seven-digit code for each user. (One of these books, printed on yellow paper, had a section for "photographers".)
Also in the booth was a coin-operated device, connected by wire to a central office, that allowed two-way voice communication with the person associated with each code number.
@mattblaze @paul_ipv6 @VickForcella @SteveBellovin
Ah…! The loss of the phone book as a metaphor, as a process example, and as a useful physical object is profound.
Now for the phone book’s actual intended purpose…meh, our current situation is a net improvement. But for all that other stuff…!
@inthehands @mattblaze @paul_ipv6 @VickForcella When you grew up in NYC, as I did, phone books were also useful as ad hoc booster seats for small kids.
@SteveBellovin @inthehands @paul_ipv6 @VickForcella "Manhattan phone book" was a well-understood unit of volume.
@mattblaze @SteveBellovin @inthehands @paul_ipv6 @VickForcella
But the best phone book story is Mythbusters’ attempt to separate phone books with interleaved pages… which needed 2 military vehicles located in my small town, then largest private collection in US & we knew the owner. At least they didn’t need to escalate to Scud missile launchers.
90 secs:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hOt-D_ee-JE