Pay Phones

[shadowjack1]

I was in between flights yesterday in Houston and for two hours
Not one person used or even looked at these phones.
A thing of the past??

[WPOZZZ]

Yes, they are a throwback to the past. However, in a power outage, your basic landline will work, unlike your cell phone.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Look kids, phones from the olden days when they had cords!

Seriously, I can't recall the last time I even saw a pay phone.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Plus who the heck carries coins around anymore anyway? I know I certainly don't!

[osidak]

Took this photo a little over 3 years ago. My son spotted it. He never saw one in real life.....

Haven't seen one since. At least yours are in working order

[wildthing]

I have to dig around for photos of just the booths. No phones. But yes, some airports still have them.

[ckelly78z]

I sure wouldn't want to use a phone booth on a busy street corner these days with so many distracted drivers, and spinning Mustangs.

[RKDinOKC]

Back in Bpy Sprouts part of Be Prepared was to carry enough change to make a payphone call in a pocket in my wallet.

Did actually used it once when traveling in college and the car broke down. No one else on the trip had any change. Though think it was more about starving college students that carrying money.

[BeyGon]

[ossiblue]

Yes, relics of the past. One other thing, many of the pay phones services are now privately owned and the cost for a call is very expensive--no where near the dime it used to be. My guess is that the ones that are still out there are present due to some requirement that they be provided--like at the airports. Just a guess. I don't think the phone companies want to keep/service the phones outside of convenience stores or on street corners unless they are forced.

BTW, did you notice the receiver and cord are missing from the shot of the phone provided by osidak?

Edit: Just did some quick research. No requirements for them to be at public places, but they are often requested. They do make money, just not a lot, and 3 fifty-cent calls per day will make a phone worth keeping. All are privately operated and rates are set by the operators--no limits--but fifty-cents for a local call seems to be the norm. They are regulated and if found broken, must be fixed within a period of time.

[dad911]

I haven't seen one in years. Would have made a killing in Key West last week, the only thing that worked after Irma hit was landlines.

[FPB111]

Used to be that if you yanked the receiver off exposing the wires you could touch a couple of them together and get the phone to spit out some change.
One of my supervisors at Bell Labs was an expert witness for rebuttal of lawsuits involving amputations. The armored cable unwinds to become razor wire easily removing vandals pinky and sometimes ring finger (3rd and 4th), seems like instant justice to me.

[McLovin]

I had one on one of my properties a few years back. It had been there for decades.

I had it removed (they tend to not attract a good clientele these days), but it wasn't easy, took months.

The company that operated it fought tooth and nail to try to keep it there. They'd pretend they didn't get my request. Say they were sending someone to remove it but then not do it. Ignore calls. Not return calls, etc., just hoping I'd give up.

The guy I spoke with did say that business wasn't good for them these days!

[cashflyer]

Legislation, not cell phones, killed the pay phone.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/object-lesson-phone-booth/515385/

[Tidybuoy]

The thing I liked about the "Pay Phone Days", I never ate lunch with a group of people glued to the phone.

[Khal]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Plus who the heck carries coins around anymore anyway? I know I certainly don't!

Most woman do and its annoying in check lines how slow the process is for them to get out exact change to pay for something. Or they'll use a write a check

[Craig T]

I had a couple years as a pharmaceutical rep in the 80's. We carried pagers that went off constantly. I knew the location of every indoor pay phone in Los Angeles and Orange Counties (outdoor phone booths were mostly urinals for homeless people) Thinking back, I haven't ouched a payphone in at least 20 years.

[Craig T]

Originally Posted by Khal

Most woman do and its annoying in check lines how slow the process is for them to get out exact change to pay for something.

Jeez, you're describing my wife. It drives me NUTS when she does it.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by Khal

Most woman do and its annoying in check lines how slow the process is for them to get out exact change to pay for something. Or they'll use a write a check

There is a reason why women are more likely to get robbed (and it's not because they are female). Ever watch a women at an ATM spend 5 minutes going thru the purse?

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

The thing I liked about the "Pay Phone Days", I never ate lunch with a group of people glued to the phone.

I know about this....it's truly a sickness amoung Americans, that luckily, I haven't caught. I am rather anti-technology.