tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post7172097236261359247..comments2024-03-04T04:08:39.755-08:00Comments on The Fies Files: A Brief MeditationBrian Fieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-57127630426654940692011-08-19T10:49:56.905-07:002011-08-19T10:49:56.905-07:00I prefer the 1927 silent about using the dial tele...I prefer the 1927 silent about using the dial telephone. Great lettering.<br /><br />http://www.archive.org/details/HowtoUse1927Walter Underwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01383958968974740318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-10864278277760143892011-08-17T17:39:37.883-07:002011-08-17T17:39:37.883-07:00When I was writing questions for the local "Q...When I was writing questions for the local "Quiz Bowl" competition, a question in Technology asked with what device the numbers 78, 45 and 33 1/3 were associated. It was asked in six games and, as I recall, one team answered it -- after their opponents flubbed it.<br /><br />Oh well, never mind. The numbers weren't important.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16807727819590358834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-45245595627948195052011-08-16T11:20:17.784-07:002011-08-16T11:20:17.784-07:00The problem is that, even if you could get a car t...The problem is that, even if you could get a car to fold up into a briefcase, it'd still be as heavy as a car.Brian Fieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-75291269741794822842011-08-16T10:57:14.271-07:002011-08-16T10:57:14.271-07:00This was a fun read. Thanks for sharing your thoug...This was a fun read. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Brian! <br /><br />Here I am, looking at my books and DVDs and realizing that they are all ready passe. It's all digital now. Nice thing about digital: you don't have to dust it. But neither can you display it on a shelf.<br /><br />Looking to the future, I think the next thing to go is owning your own stuff. What I mean is no longer will we have media on pages or pressed on discs. Content will be controlled by corporations and they will have the power to monitor its use and abuse. And they will unceremoniously yank it if there are any problems (ala when Kindle deleted all of Orwell's books from people who had bought & downloaded them for their Kindles due to a rights issue). <br /><br />If I could just have my damn jetpack I would be happier about the future. OK, either that or the little bubble car that automatically folds into a briefcase!Mike Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06589354018554341768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-77093494738987986252011-08-16T08:04:21.542-07:002011-08-16T08:04:21.542-07:00Sherwood, Wow, you're OLLLLLD! My grandma was ...Sherwood, Wow, you're OLLLLLD! My grandma was one of those old-timey operators and told great stories about the job. She stayed true-blue loyal to Bell long after there stopped being a Bell. <br /><br />Fotomat! Forgot all about those; don't think I used one more than once or twice, and don't remember the print quality being good. Our local grocery store had one in its parking lot for the longest time. It was a drive-thru coffee hut for quite a while, and they just tore it down a couple of years ago because cars kept running into it.<br /><br />I tell my kids they're going to have to explain Nintendo to their holodeck-using children someday. I don't think they believe me.Brian Fieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347700145666751363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-22692336368179285642011-08-16T04:00:50.591-07:002011-08-16T04:00:50.591-07:001996: I had a house in Winchester, Virginia with l...1996: I had a house in Winchester, Virginia with land-line phones (remember them?) and an extra phone jack in the basement /rec room. All the phones in the house were touch-tone handsets except for the rec room's ancient rotary device. <br /><br />My son had a school friend visiting one afternoon, and so we asked the friend if he'd like to stay for dinner. He said he'd have to call home, so I told him to call from the phone in the rec room.<br /><br />Of course, a minute later the middle school-aged child walked up from the basement saying, "I don't know how that thing works." <br /><br />This was *1996*. Rotary phones must look like telegraph keys to today's youngsters. <br /><br />Postscript: had a discussion with my 22-year-old daughter and her friend the other day about how Fotomat stores worked. "So, it's like the one-hour photo at CVS?" "No, you'd have to come back after a day or two to get your film." "Why?" etc.Jim O'Kanehttp://www.tvdads.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1568334561722760329.post-54660541035275599552011-08-15T19:44:42.876-07:002011-08-15T19:44:42.876-07:00"Until Saturday midnight... please make your ..."Until Saturday midnight... please make your calls in the usual manner."<br /><br />I actually remember using what I presume the "usual manner" referred to was: clicking a lever to connect to an Ernestine-style operator and giving her (always, invariably <i>her</i>) the connection information. For my Aunt Myrt, I'd ask the operator to connect me to "South New Berlin 3-Y-5, please."<br /><br />Whippersnapper.<br /><br />Love the instructional video, though -- thanks, Brian and Mike!Sherwood Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09575868746160608731noreply@blogger.com