"411"

[+ newatthis]

A rash of "411 on ..." posts got me to thinking...does 411 still exist as a way to find a phone number? What percentage of the population under the age of, say, 30, know what "411" means or at least where it comes from?

[rvwnsd]

The directory assistance service of both Sprint and Verizon Wireless are accessed by calling "411." I usually use Google to locate phone numbers. These days, I use directory assistance only when a Google listing or the company's web site does not allow me to click a link to dial the number. Directory assistance will connect the call for me.

[+ deej]

I seem to recall (but can't find it now) phone carriers are still required to respond to both 411 and 911, although 911 may or may not be routed to your local emergency center (requires registration in some areas for mobile and VOIP numbers) and 411 may get routed to a pay-per-call service.

 

They've all also pretty universally settled on 611 for customer service, and some locales are implementing 511 for non-emergency services (loud neighbors, barking dogs, etc.)

 

With today's technology adoption trends, I doubt 411 will go anywhere any time soon. You and I may find Google a better alternative, but not everyone has an internet connection.

 

I haven't seen a more recent than 2005 graph on technology adoption, but it's pretty cool to study:

 

http://www.dfapam.com/pics/productadoption.gif

 

More people have cellphones than washing machines, but it's still not 100% and a lot of them are not smartphones.

[gallahadesquire]

Don't forget 211, which was used too get a long distance line, especially before area codes. And yes,I remember the 6 cent postage stamp for letters.

[SteveEscort]

I remember party lines where you shared an outgoing copper wire and could listen to your neighbours conversations. They don't exist anymore, replaced by dacs (digital line sharing) in remote areas where there isn't enough wires, which you're unable to snoop on lol

 

In the UK, we still had rotary dial phones issued by the phone company until the late 80's, I have three old dial phones but none are plugged into any phone sockets because I don't use a home phone line anymore, I have no need for one.

[+ deej]

When my mother sold her house in 2001, she had to have the phone company come out to uninstall the two hard-wired rotary phones they'd installed when my parents bought the house 40+ years earlier. The next owner had to have modular jacks installed because the house didn't have any.

 

I suspect if that happened today, the new owner might just skip it and use cellular service. The house would've skipped the entire era of the RJ-11 jack.

[gallahadesquire]

When I started grad school, I had no TV and no telephone. I got a phone my second year, but not a TV. My Volkswagen had to be parked on a hill so I could pop the clutch to get it started.

[+ Charlie]

Interesting that we still "dial" a number, even though I haven't owned a phone with a dial on it in years.

[Phil_musc]

This is a nice little walk down memory lane which we all should take as soon as we get out of our flip flops and put on our high button shoes, the ones with the spats.

Many good points made here already - it's a mini-pop-history lesson for those under thirty (are there any here?)

[gallahadesquire]

Interesting that we still "dial" a number, even though I haven't owned a phone with a dial on it in years.

 

Apparently, The Phone Company (AT&T and its derivatives) have to maintain the "dial" system. Some cheap phones have the choice of "pulse" or "tone". You can imitate pulse by clicking on the "off hook" switch.

[Kevin Slater]

My Volkswagen had to be parked on a hill so I could pop the clutch to get it started.

 

My first and by far favorite car was a used VW Squareback. The engine was in the back and that entire front section where it looks like the engine would be was open storage. The window washer fluid was propelled by drawing air from the spare tire.

 

http://www.autofiends.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/square.jpg

 

Kevin Slater

[SteveEscort]

The Phone Company (AT&T and its derivatives) have to maintain the "dial" system.

 

Yes, British Telecom do here, as do Sky, Virgin Cable etc who also provide phone services. I have vonage as my home phone now, it's half the price of the mainstream companies and includes free calls to most countries of the world within the line rental. The quality is as good a a conventional phone and the bonus is that you can plug any conventional phone into it but they don't support pulse dialling.

[seeker630]

... My Volkswagen had to be parked on a hill so I could pop the clutch to get it started.

 

Mine was pale green.

 

Added an extra challenge to dating (figuring out where you could park).

[gp0560]

Young squits, all of you! Who else besides me remembers three-cent stamps, red and blue tax tokens, butter rationing, and candlestick phones?

[Kevin Slater]

Young squits, all of you! Who else besides me remembers... butter rationing...

 

My mom tells me that when margarine first came out, it was pale white with a little red tab in it that you had to stir together to make it look more butter colored. Something about the butter industry making damn sure you knew it wasn't real butter you were using.

 

Kevin Slater

[+ Charlie]

Young squits, all of you! Who else besides me remembers three-cent stamps, red and blue tax tokens, butter rationing, and candlestick phones?

 

When I was a child, our phone was a candlestick model, that stood on a little table in the living room at the foot of the stairs , so someone could get to it if it rang while everyone was upstairs (answering machines hadn't been invented). Our phone number was HAckensack 4657. There were four houses on our party line.

[gallahadesquire]

My mom tells me that when margarine first came out, it was pale white with a little red tab in it that you had to stir together to make it look more butter colored. Something about the butter industry making damn sure you knew it wasn't real butter you were using.

 

Kevin Slater

 

I thought they only did that in Wisconsin. The Dairy State?

[Kevin Slater]

I thought they only did that in Wisconsin. The Dairy State?

 

This would have been Nebraska.

 

Kevin Slater

[gp0560]

My mom tells me that when margarine first came out, it was pale white with a little red tab in it that you had to stir together to make it look more butter colored. Something about the butter industry making damn sure you knew it wasn't real butter you were using.

 

Kevin Slater

 

We had this in Michigan, too. It was my job to keep squishing the plastic bag to get the color evenly distributed.

 

The way I heard the story about the coloring requirement was that it was started by the state of Wisconsin to support the dairy industry. One state senator boasted that he could always tell the taste difference between butter and margarine. That ended on the day of the blind taste test!

[+ Cash4Trash]

One of my chores was mixing margarine with the color to make it look like butter.

 

I also lived in 2 homes with no indoor plumbing and spent the 1st grade in a one room schoolhouse with all 8 grades seated in the 8 rows.

One teacher for all of us.

[rvwnsd]

My mom tells me that when margarine first came out, it was pale white with a little red tab in it that you had to stir together to make it look more butter colored. Something about the butter industry making damn sure you knew it wasn't real butter you were using.

 

Kevin Slater

 

My dad told me that margarine (or "oleomargarine," as it was referred to back then) was not initially sold in Wisconsin due to the dairy industry's influence in that state.