Communication Breakdown

Talking with a co-worker the other day and somewhat stating the obvious how the internet has changed everything. Further re-stating the obvious to say how it has becomes so many things that were once something else: shopping malls, town squares, encyclopedias and libraries and bookstores, party-lines (more on this later) - this list could go on ad infinitum.

But I thought about how much had changed in my own experience in terms of communications. Postcards have been replaced by Twitters or emailed pictures ("Wish You Were Here!") When I was young, postcards were a big deal. Does anybody send postcards anymore - beside your dentist to remind that it's time for a cleaning?

Party-lines? Not sure exactly what replaced them but has anyone ever been on one or even remember what they were? As a kid I recall my mother being relieved when we finally got our own private line. We no longer had to pick up the phone and hope somebody wasn't already on the line or that while speaking, someone else wouldn't cut in. Hard to imagine a time when the technology could barely carry one conversation down the copper wires. This was 50 years ago mind you but ... when we moved to Missouri in 1991 we had to have a party-line. Funny thing was at first we were the only party on it. Then we moved and in the next house we had to share a line with the people who bought our first house. Fortunately this didn't last long but for a time we had to listen for a certain ring which meant the call was for us.

Fax machines. These have almost (if not already) been made obsolete by email and attachments etc. But I remember my first fax machine. My job required me to communicate with offices in several countries overseas in vastly different time zones. One day my boss's boss, who was a technology geek, came in with something called a QWIP. Odd thing is, I think it was made by Exxon. It was as big as a laser printer is now and had a drum. You put either blank paper (to receive) on one sheet at a time or if sending you put the page face out on the drum. Secured it in place, picked up the handset, dialed a number, waited for some weird tone and then put the handset in a cradle. After a bit the drum would start to spin. It took between 3 & 6 minutes for one page. Nobody would wait that long for anything today but in 1976, this was a miracle. Didn't matter what time it was overseas, I could send my document (one page at a time of course) whenever I wanted and the next day it would be in Sydney or Manila or wherever.

Telegrams. The last one I remember getting personally was on my wedding day from a close friend in CA (Hi and thanks Roy!) But at work we had two machines: a telex and a TWX. Eventually I learned how to use both of them. They were these big clunky machines we kept in our art department - where photoshop hadn't yet been invented and their primary tools were talent, exacto knives and something by Pantone. I think TWX was faster than a Telex. But both of them printed things out on thin yellow-ish paper. Sending meant manually typing in every word. One of them was in real-time which meant there was no benefit to being a fast typist. The machine could only go so fast. If you went too fast (never was my problem!) it either spit our gibberish on the other end or went into freeze mode.

For some reason on the way to work this morning I guess I was feeling nostalgic for all this old technology. At least I could keep up with it.