Breaker one nine for a radio check...........

Do you remember CB radios? Their most popular time was the 1970's (especially after the success of Smokey and the Bandit) but they continued somewhat into the 80's and now are more of a novelty still used by some truckers. I had a CB radio when I was around sixteen and enjoyed the anonymous communications with others. In retrospect it was kind of like the "chat rooms" of our computer age but for some reason chat rooms always seemed kind of creepy to me. I had a large antenna at my house that would give me extended range and if you were lucky, your signal could "skip" across the atmosphere allowing you to briefly chat with someone hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
With the tremendous advances in technology, there's not much point in having a CB but many of us have fond memories of long ago when they were really fun to use. "10-4 and goodbye"

I just want to make a phone call

Back in the 1970's, I started to watch the original STAR TREK tv show, which by then was in permanent reruns.The reason for mentioning this is that there was a particular device used by the crew members which was called the "communicator". It was essentially a miniature walkie-talkie that had a tremendous talk range. It was mostly used to communicate with the orbiting starship or another member of the landing party. It was a very simple design. You would flip open the cover and talk. No need to hold a button down like with a walkie-talkie. There were 3 lights and only two buttons inside. I'm not sure what those buttons were for, but I thought this "portable phone" was so cool and wondered how long into the future it would take us to design and build these small but poweful communicators. I'm pretty sure these units did not have cameras, keypads, clocks, GPS or LCD screens. So you couldn't take pictures, you couldn't text message, you couldn't surf the interent and read emails, you couldn't watch movies or play video games, you couldn't use them as watches or alarm clocks and you couldn't find your way to somewhere with them. You could however, do the most important thing with it. You could talk to someone, even over a great distance. That was the idea behind the original portable phone that came out around 1984. It was about the size of a brick, weighed about two pounds and cost about $4000.00. I knew then that it was only a matter of years before the STAR TREK communicator would be a reality for us all, although the design would have to be modified with a keypad for dialing phone numbers. Instead of creating long range communicators they invented the "cell" phone. They are called cell phones because the limited transmitter range must be received by a nearby "cell" tower in order to make a call. The drawback to this system is that your phone must be in range of a tower to actually use it. That was a big problem early on but it's getting better as more and more towers are put up. However, reception has never been as good as a traditional "land line" phone. How many times have you tried to have a conversation with someone calling from a cell phone only to hear just bits and pieces? Maybe you're the one on the cell phone spinning around continuously asking "can you hear me now?" All I ever wanted from a portable phone was to make and receive calls at places where there was no access to a regular phone. That's all. These days, it doesn't really matter if you can actually talk to someone because the phones have so many other features to keep you busy. As more gadgets are crammed into them, it almost seems like the phone designers are trying to make these little devices the only thing you'll ever need or want in life. That's just my middle aged opinion. Listen to my version of Steve Martin from the movie "The Jerk" as he is saying "All I need is this".

I just want to hear my messages

If you were born after 1995, you probably don't remember the traditional "answering machine". It was a separate device aside from your telephone that would record incoming call messages. Originally the recordings were placed on a "reel to reel" tape. Then they evolved into using the cassette tape, then the mini cassette tape and finally a digital computer chip. When you came home, you would look at the little device next to your phone, and if someone had called, a light would be flashing. That would prompt you to press a single button on the machine, and you would immediately hear your new messages. That's it. Simple, quick, and efficient. The only time you might not get a message is if the answering machine was turned off or you had a power failure. Okay, it also wouldn't work if you never erased any of your old messages. Now we have what someone cleverly decided to call "voice mail" or "voice mail boxes". Essentially, the phone company is now the "answering machine". To get your messages you have to pick up your phone and listen for the special beep. Then, you dial the special number. Then, you enter your special code number. Then, you listen to a recording that tells you how many messages you received today. If you have old messages that will no longer be stored by the phone company, you must go thru them one by one before it will play your new messages. Have fun if you have many messages. If it's a message that you don't want to listen to in it's entirety, you have to press a sequence of numbers to speed through it and delete it. By the way, if you have precious or important messages that you want to keep for a long time or forever, you can't do that with voice mail. Only an aswering machine can save your message for as long as you want. My wife tells me that the advantage of voice mail is that you can get your messages when calling from anywhere. Well, most answering machines of the past had a feature that would allow you to do the same thing. Another great feature allowed you to listen as the message was being placed and pick up the phone if you wanted to take the call. All I want to do is walk in my house press the button and hear my new messages. I don't need the phone company recording my personal calls, forcing me to go through a button pushing ritual, and charging me money for the service as well. But that's just my middle aged opinion. Obviously this is irrelevant for those who only use cellular phones. Read my thoughts about cell phones, texting and "cell phone people".

I have another call

While talking to someone on a phone, have you ever been put on hold because the person with whom you are speaking wants to speak to someone else who is trying to call? Have you ever been put on hold more than once during the same call? The only time I don't consider these actions rude is when, at the beginning of the call, the person you are speaking with let's you know in advance that they may be getting an important call shortly that they must take. Otherwise, just ignore the beeping. They will probably try to reach you later. That's just my middle aged opinion.

Hello? You're holding a telephone!

................ Does anyone agree with me that text messaging or "texting" on a cell phone is just plain silly? I can't believe this way of communicating actually caught on. Especially when the device you're using is capable of transmitting and receiving voice. That's like going to a phone booth, and instead of picking up the handset to talk and hear, you just peck at the keypad to create short, sometimes cryptic sentences, and the person on the other end actually does the same thing. After ten minutes of that, you manage to get across to your friend that you had a nice time last night. On a serious note, anyone who does this while driving is a fool. Many recent accidents have occurred due to this irresponsible behavior. Just use a telephone as it was originally intended. That's just my middle aged opinion.