1 edit | R.I.P I havent used one in years. | |
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 |  elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO | Re: R.I.P i have
and its usefull if your cell dies on you
this is a bad plan imo
even Japan the cell capital of the world still has pay phones every were | |
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| |  tiger72SexaT duorPPremium
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO
kudos:1 | Re: R.I.P If you want to make ATT the official state phone company, then i'm sure ATT would be happy to maintain their pay phone system. | |
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| | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | Re: R.I.P We tried that once, people apparently didn't like it much. | |
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| | | |  PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: R.I.P said by tiger72:If you want to make ATT the official state phone company, then i'm sure ATT would be happy to maintain their pay phone system. said by openbox9:We tried that once, people apparently didn't like it much. Apparently they did; we're trying to do it again, if you haven't noticed. | |
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| | | Has anyone? The cellphone has killed off this business for everyone but people living on the street. | |
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| |  FiLPremium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD
1 edit | Re: R.I.P Lol.
hahaha. I'll be the guy in your head laughing when you get stuck without a phone on one of the desolate SC streets and all you can see is a closed down gas station and a light on over a payphone... that isn't in service cuz of this! haha  | |
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| | |  wolfoxGentle Wolfox
join:2002-11-27
Dunnellon, FL | Re: R.I.P said by FiL:Lol. hahaha. I'll be the guy in your head laughing when you get stuck without a phone on one of the desolate SC streets and all you can see is a closed down gas station and a light on over a payphone... that isn't in service cuz of this! haha They do not even leave the pay phone in many areas. They're ripped with a black plastic slug put over the socket where the phone mounted to the wall and got it's pair from the pole. In *some* AT&T areas, they are getting ripped for street saturating Wi-Fi, but I am unsure of that project's progress. Mostly though in my neck of the woods, technicians yanking the pay phones usually site that in an effort to control crime and drug dealing, the are removing often unused and remote phones. The ones all up and down my block are gone and all of them on campus where I work have disappeared. The booth is still there, a privacy barrier too - black plug in the wall about 5x5 inches.
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The RIAA killed my legal webcast. Sadly it will never be mourned... | |
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| | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | Amazingly, I was able to survive the first 31 years of my life without a cellphone, and if memory serves me correctly, all while only using a pay phone once...and that was in Germany. | |
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| | | |  dadkinsCan you do Blu?Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
kudos:18
1 edit | Re: R.I.P Other side of that coin...
I was fine as well without a cell - for as long as cell phones have existed.
I finally got one for when...
There is no Payphone nearby.
Don't always have change.
Can't remember a phone number.
People need to reach me in an emergency.
*HERE*, *FOR ME*, it was finally a doable thing.
So far, I haven't actually needed it, but if the situation ever arises...
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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| | | | |  cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:5
 ·Frontier FiOS
| Re: R.I.P said by dadkins:I finally got one for when... Don't always have change. So you pay $40 a month for when you don't have a quarter. | |
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| | | | | | dadkinsCan you do Blu?Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
kudos:18 | Re: R.I.P No!
My cell only requires $20.00 every THREE MONTHS.
Pre Paid FTW!
$20.00 / 3 = $6.6666666666666666666666666666667 per month.
~$6.66 per month for peace of mind... worth it!
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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| | | | | | | | | Re: R.I.P Satanic cellular service ftw | |
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| | | | | | | | PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: R.I.P What's so satanic about a repeating decimal? | |
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| | | | | | | | | what prepaid plan is this? | |
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| |  bhayman
join:2002-01-24
Greenville, PA | Now how am I going to call my mistress with out my wife finding her number in my cell phone 
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Good things come to obsessive-compulsivies who fixate. | |
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| | | | | Re: R.I.P said by bhayman:Now how am I going to call my mistress with out my wife finding her number in my cell phone LOL. You'll have to get one of those pre-paid cellphones and keep that for calling your mistress. | |
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| | | | | get a $30 SIM at T-mo. You can walk in and not even need to give a real name. | |
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| | | |  DavidNow accepting new patientsPremium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
kudos:70 | Re: R.I.P Do a search on ebay and buy one there. | |
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| | | |  N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" GuanoPremium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
kudos:1 | Re: R.I.P Sounds like someones been listening to the Pina Colada song again....
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Petty people are disproportionably corrupted by petty power… | |
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| | | | | | | Re: R.I.P Lol. I Googled the lyrics for it. Hilarious. | |
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| | | | | | N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" GuanoPremium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
kudos:1 | Re: R.I.P Damn,
I'm old enough to remember the lyrics to it... | |
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| | | | | | |  tapeloopNot bad at all, really.Premium
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One
kudos:1 | Re: R.I.P said by N3OGH:Damn, I'm old enough to remember the lyrics to it... Sadly, I am too. And old enough to remember when there were payphones, and they cost a dime to make a call. | |
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| | | | | | |  cdigioiaPremium
join:2005-06-08
korea, repub | Hey I'm 23 & I know the lyrics... | |
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| | | | | | | |  MysticGogetaThe Robot DevilPremium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX | Re: R.I.P I'm 18 and I do also.. | |
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| | | | | budone
join:2002-09-07
Coopersville, MI | The song is Escape! | |
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| | |  MadcapPiercing GuruPremium
join:2004-06-26
Kenosha, WI | *68 before the number, Restricted Call!  | |
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| | | | | | Re: R.I.P *67 
Good times! | |
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| | | PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | said by bhayman:Now how am I going to call my mistress with out my wife finding her number in my cell phone said by dadkins:»www.virginmobileusa.com/rates/howitworks.do Virgin Mobile. | |
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| | | | Yes, I tried to use one over the Thanksgiving holidays when I went to visit some friends. Unfortunately the pay phone company proved unreliable and I never could reach my friends even though I had the phone number. | |
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| | Mele20Premium
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
kudos:4 | said by fAcEtIOUs:Has anyone? The cellphone has killed off this business for everyone but people living on the street. Oh really? I don't live on the street rather in a very nice condo on the ocean. I use pay phones. I don't have a cell phone and don't want one (I read Stephen King's novel Cell ). I see no move by HawaiianTelCom to remove pay phones in Hawaii yet Hawaii leads the nation in cell phone usage.
--
"The same ferocity that our founders devoted to protect the freedom and independence of the press is now appropriate for our defense of the freedom of the internet. The stakes are the same: the survival of our Republic". Al Gore, The Assault on Reason | |
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| | | PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: R.I.P said by Mele20:yet Hawaii leads the nation in cell phone usage. Can you back that? | |
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| | | | | | Re: R.I.P I can believe that. They're always on the phone with their drug suppliers. | |
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| | | | Mele20Premium
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
kudos:4 | said by PolarBear03:said by Mele20:yet Hawaii leads the nation in cell phone usage. Can you back that? Off hand, I don't have a citation and I am having an awful time getting pages to load today like yesterday or I would look. I think the latest time I read this was in a recent Time magazine. It is well known Hawaii has been the leader in adapting to cell phone use for years. The percentage of citizens with cell phones in Hawaii is higher than anywhere else in the US but no longer by much margin.
--
"The same ferocity that our founders devoted to protect the freedom and independence of the press is now appropriate for our defense of the freedom of the internet. The stakes are the same: the survival of our Republic". Al Gore, The Assault on Reason | |
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| | | | | PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: R.I.P I would think that New York City, Miami, or LA would top Hawaii (even if only by a little), but since I know nothing about Hawaii, I'll believe you. | |
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| MysticGogetaThe Robot DevilPremium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX | Seen one with shit all over it. Yes Shit. | |
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| | | | Re: R.I.P As a kid, when we would pass by a phone booth, we would spit on the hearing end where you place on your ear. Yes, that was stupid and I'm not proud of it.
As I grew up a bit more and started using pay phones, I always checked the phone first and never let it touch my ear | |
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| |  ReformCRTCSupport Your Independent ISP
join:2004-03-07
Canada | Human Excrement? | |
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| | | MysticGogetaThe Robot DevilPremium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX | Re: R.I.P Yes | |
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| | | Hey, "$0.25 a minute to anywhere in the U.S.A." was a bargain!  | |
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| | |
| | | Well, here in NYC, all the formerly ubiquitous emergency red fire call boxes and police emergency boxes were disconnected some years ago. The city had a agreement with ATT to have pay phones in these locations instead.
So, I assume that they will remain in place.
Anyway, 25 cents for a 5 minutes local call is still cheaper than daytime cell minutes, and local here includes over 10 million tel numbers, so they probably still get use. There is still one phone booth left across the street. Next to the bus stop- good place to wait in the rain.... | |
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| KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | im only 27 and remember when i carried a dime as a kid incase i needed to use a pay phone. its a sad day in telecom but it was certainly coming as the cell got as common as the microwave.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
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BuzzDar
join:2006-01-28
West Frankfort, IL | Thats ATT for ya So much for att cell phone customers being able to use a pay phone when there cell phone dont work. Guess its Less Calls In Fewer Places. | |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1
1 edit | turn into cell towers What do you do when your cellphone is lost, or runs out of battery?
I remember years ago when you could find a pay phone anywhere. They littered Central Business Districts like weeds and trees sticking outside of the sidewalk. 7 years later, all I see are screw holes in the ground. Bad thing that payphones are going away. They should all be made into picocells/minicells for all the coverage holes that exist, and for extra capacity. They can use licensed spectrum, and T1/DSL lines as backhaul, and maybe a couple pairs as power from the CO. The payphones maintained by independents often seem to be vandalized or dead. | |
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| Reviews:
 ·DSL EXTREME
1 edit | Re: turn into cell towers said by patcat88:What do you do when your cellphone is lost, or runs out of battery? I remember years ago when you could find a pay phone anywhere. They littered Central Business Districts like weeds and trees sticking outside of the sidewalk. 7 years later, all I see are screw holes in the ground. Bad thing that payphones are going away. They should all be made into picocells/minicells for all the coverage holes that exist, and for extra capacity. They can use licensed spectrum, and T1/DSL lines as backhaul, and maybe a couple pairs as power from the CO. The payphones maintained by independents often seem to be vandalized or dead. I hear Ya, About the only Pay Phones I know of are at the Local Stater Brothers Market in Barstow CA, But being run by Indies they don't always work. Me I'd love to have a Cell Phone, But since I'm almost always at home I don't need one as I'm disabled and as I don't have more than a fixed income and so the cell phone would just be another bill that I'd have to feed and I have enough already as It is now.
--
(25.92GHz crunching for SETI with the PC Perspective Killer Frogs) | |
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| | | it could be interested to turn them some how into a Wi-Fi hotspot in areas. since they have a "physical" address you could get DSL or something else there and just put a hotspot up and enclosed in a locked box and you'd be ready to go. | |
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| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | Re: turn into cell towers It was done in NYC circa 2000-2003 by Verizon and was ONLY available to Verizon DSL customers, as I remember, no amount of paying on the spot would get you service. The service shut down because Verizon decided it would bastardize their then upcoming EVDO network (a rare example of the right hand talking to the left, since in the past VZW and VZ acted independently). | |
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| | BellSouth BellSouth has been out of the payphone business for years. | |
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 dslwanterIt's comingPremium
join:2002-12-16
Niles, OH
·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | This shouldn't be allowed to happen Believe it or not there are still people who are too poor to afford phone service or a cell phone. What about when someone breaks down and their cell phone is dead, they know their is (or use to be) a payphone up the street from them. They start walking and it's not even there. I'm not one to like to stop at some stranger's house and ask to use their phone. Since it's not a government regulated thing, I don't expect to see anything done about it. I also can't begin to tell you how the slightest local emergancy causes the cell towers to overload. Everytime there's a tornado warning issued for Mahoning county I can't use my cell at all. Oh well, there goes AT&T with their big dick again.
--
"You're as worthless as a screen door on a submarine!" Check out my Internet Radio Station & DJ Service, »www.thebomb102.com. | |
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See 21 replies to this post |
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| | Just this morning... I passed a free local public phone this morning and thought that it would be an interesting business opportunity, but basically came to the same understanding that AT&T did. Public phones in the US just aren't cost effective.
Not that people won't use a pay phone from time to time, but the return on the investment just can't materialize when these phones collect less than $1/call. The costs to develop, install and maintain these phones through the abuse, graffiti, and harsh elements just won't be offset by the few people that might use them.
This won't be the death of the payphone, you will still see them in select areas (outside school dorms, bus/train stations, etc) but to maintain them as some sort of uninterrupted service area is definitely ending. | |
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See 9 replies to this post |
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 jjoshuaPremium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ
kudos:1 | Payphones are a public service This is where the FCC should step in and mandate that the ILECs provide pay phones as a public service.
Too bad that it's not a money maker for AT&T. | |
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|  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: Payphones are a public service They'll just sell the payphone business off to a small company that will charge $0.50 / minute of local or long distance calls.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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|  DotMac4Shill H8rPremium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA
1 edit | They already do the "public service" thing through the USF. The USF provides DEEPLY discounted local phone service for poor folks. With everyone able to have a home phone, there is no need for the FCC to insist that AT&T lose money providing pay phones. | |
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| | | | Re: Payphones are a public service It's only AT&T that is leaving the payphone business (and AT&T isn't even the largest US payphone company). The largest payphone provider in the US *is* an ILEC (in fact, it's VZ), and they have no interest in bailing out of payphones anytime soon. | |
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 Dude111An Awesome DudePremium
join:2003-08-04
USA
kudos:10 | Who cares...... There are other carriers besides those losers....... | |
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amungusPremium
join:2004-11-26
America Reviews:
·AT&T DSL Service
| the real reason So, the real reason must be that they don't want you to escape from the Matrix
Seriously, it is kind of sad. See 'em disappearing from time to time and it's just really sad. Sure, most people pass them by, but it's nice to know they exist for all those reasons listed above. Like another poster, every time a storm/tornado warning comes along, or in spring/fall when students come and go, cell phones might as well be left on the charger all day because you MIGHT be able to make/receive a call at some point if you're lucky... though it's been getting better as they build more towers...
Still, R.I.P. to the payphones being ripped out. | |
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 pokesphIt Is Almost FastPremium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
kudos:1 | death of AT&T so yet another nail in the coffin of AT&T (and it's clones)
It's too bad, too.. seems the "phone" company doesn't want to be a phone company any longer.. | |
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| | | Re: death of AT&T This is the way of the future. Like "Health Care" companies really care about your health. | |
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| | Instead of payphones.. Payphones have been an unfunded mandate for sometime now..
What should replace payphones are some sort of localized wireless & wired access line for emergency services and/or call/message sending (a 21st century box). Many places like supermarkets, strip malls and the like already have wireless internet access & kiosks, so that we are not without communications. Cell phones call 911 even without activation. In real emergencies, messages can get to the right people. Avoid desolate areas unless you like taking risks. I still think that there should be strategically placed hard-wired communications (for emergency purposes) throughout the country, just not as much as there are payphones. For example, in NYC there were (probably still are some) emergency phones strategically placed in areas like bridges and bad neighborhoods to prevent tragedies from happening or getting worse. This is still necessary, just don't expect AT&T to fund it. Municipalities will have to foot the bill (and in turn taxpayers). | |
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 intellerSociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK | more of our privacy disappearing. One more source of anaonymous communications going away. I guess ATT hadn't bugged these phones yet so it is better just to pull them out of the ground. | |
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See 7 replies to this post |
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 pleekmoTriptoe Through The TulipsPremium
join:2001-09-14
Manchester, CT
·AT&T DSL Service
| Legacy I am one of those too poor to afford a cellular phone. There used to be two pay phones near each other at a main intersection in my town which happens to be on my bicycle ride into work. They are now gone. The next nearest pay phone is about a third of a mile away and it may be very fortunate that I just happen to know where it is. But the if there ever should happen to be some sort of emergency at that particular intersection, I think that the fastest way to get the police there might be to throw a rock through the window of the bank there at that intersection.
This may be the legacy of the death of the pay phone.
--
HCN: Because you deserve a rest!
Proud member of the Free Omelas Liberation Front. | |
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| openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | Re: Legacy said by pleekmo:I am one of those too poor to afford a cellular phone. You can always send an IM with your DSL connection. | |
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| |  AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ | Re: Legacy said by openbox9:said by pleekmo:I am one of those too poor to afford a cellular phone. You can always send an IM with your DSL connection. Or use skype | |
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 lordfly
join:2000-10-12
Homestead, FL
 ·SkyNet360
·AT&T Southeast
| Payphones necessity for farm workers and migrants Here in Homestead, there are pay phones located around and near the low income housing. The users of these phones do not have the money to purchase a cell, or even a house phone. They only call internationally, so they save up their money and buy calling cards so they can talk to their loved ones.
I agree that Pay Phones should be called Public Phones. Local 5 minute calls are free and any other time they have to use a calling card.
To the person who commented about phone booths. We haven't had a phone booth down here in decades.
And, I was surprised to here about the Time of Day service. Here in South Florida we call 305-324-8811. Is is an advertiser paid free service that gives you an ad, then the local temperature and time. It gets about 2 million calls a month. | |
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| | | Re: Payphones necessity for farm workers and migrants Who paid off the State Public Service Commissions?
Payphone service, like "lifeline" service, is (or was?) mandatory, i.e., for the public good. Lest we forget, "lifeline" service was a concession for granting the privilege of monopoly status in the first place. At least one Public payphone was required in every exchange, for public safety, and to serve the economically disadvantaged. Obviously the Commissions and legislators are looking the other way now and letting the Telcos break there word and get away with what ever they damn well want. | |
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dadkinsCan you do Blu?Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
kudos:18 | Most are not AT&T At least, not the ones I see.
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| | Pay Phones There will still be private companies providing pay phones. But there are fewer of those, they may not be reliable in maintaining their phones, they'll charge onerous rates, plus they'll choose the most profitable locations (like the international terminal at an airport, in jails, etc.).
But it looks like those who may need to use a payphone for whatever reason (they forgot their cellphone, it broke, it's lost, no cellular service, they're a kid trying to call home from school, etc.) will be out of luck, even in an emergency.
The other day I went to Downtown L.A. and ate at Philippe's, which is in an historic building selling mainly their famous french-dipped sandwiches. I saw five pay phone booths in a row inside the restaurant. I thought that's an unusual site. When I went to check them out, only one of the five was connected. The other four were disconnected, but are still there for decoration. | |
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1 edit | Murphy's Law Will Strike Ha. I can't wait to hear about the cell phone idiots complaining about not being able to get a signal OR find a phone when their vehicle breaks down on the side of the road in bumblefuck nowhere at 2a.m. and the only sign of civilization is a filthy gas station that is closed and the only light source is where the pay phone used to be. | |
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See 6 replies to this post |
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Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| I'll miss pay phones I used pay phones when I did alot of coastal cruising. Call home to say I was alive and here is where I am. Pay phones at the end of the street when I was a live-aboard was a popular place. I HATE cell phones, had 2. First one I used MAYBE 12 times in the 2 year plan. Second one was given to me by a woman that was a bit high-maintenace. I threw it overboard.
I still keep 2 quarters in my wallet, but asking for a pay phone will usually get an offer to use a cell phone. | |
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| | | Re: I'll miss pay phones said by capecoddah:I HATE cell phones, had 2. First one I used MAYBE 12 times in the 2 year plan. Second one was given to me by a woman that was a bit high-maintenace. I threw it overboard. The cellphone or the woman? | |
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| | Black Box Time Or is a Red one? Grab those pairs and hook'em up to a Black Box and start injecting tones into their switches and see if you can make a call. | |
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| dadkinsCan you do Blu?Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
kudos:18 | Re: Black Box Time *Blue Box*... | |
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| | | tlniec
join:2004-08-02
Cedar Rapids, IA | Re: Black Box Time Hey, the phreaks are still alive and kickin'?! | |
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Reviews:
 ·Optimum Online
·Verizon Online DSL
| Bad idea Call me old school but as convenient as a cell phone can be, I'd depend on a landline in an emergency any given day, especially when everyone and their mother tends to overflood cell networks whenever something bad happens.
Just because it's not a cash cow anymore doesn't imply they're not useful. | |
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