Will You Accept the Charges?

“We have a collect call from Marilyn. Will you accept the charges?”  So began a common routine used when phone booths were prevalent. Every Sunday night young women gathered in our wing of the dorm because that’s where the payphone was. The most popular method of calling home was “Operator, I’d like to place a collect call.” Parents declined the charges, hung up, and dialed the number in the phone booth direct and then both parties settled in for a long, much cheaper chat.  Some called every week while others were on a more limited budget. Calls were always after 7pm when the rates were lower.

When I was on the speech circuit for Illinois Bell in the 1970s, I talked about AT&T’s goal to have a phone in every home in the U.S and that we were almost there. I recently heard that 41% of the population no longer has a landline.  Bell Labs worked hard to introduce a PicturePhone. It was very expensive and never caught on for either home or office use, but now skype is free and common. Phone numbers started with words like Hudson, Parkside, Humboldt. I read that it is possible babies will be assigned a phone number that will last their lifetime.

It was the Microsoft announcement of up to 18,000 layoffs that got me thinking about the changes in our communications norms and the status of major corporations. Before answering machines there were unanswered telephones. In the days of rotary dial, the closest thing to a conference call was a party line and call waiting was someone standing by to use the phone next. Now we expect an immediate response to a text or email.  While science itself and science fiction predicted some of the technology advances we have experienced, I truly wonder about what comes next and what we won’t be able to live without 10 years from now and what industry leaders we will be watching.

Marilyn