Western electric and the good days of phones/Tech

[rtp129495]

     I am 35 years old, so I only remeber Western Electrics exsitence in the early early part of my life. I remeber going to the original AT&T Store(not sure if that was the correct name) My dad was going to get a 2500 or similar set since we ordered (wait for it) touch tone service! This was approximatly 1981-82. Our house had about 4 WE phones, one of which is still there, you could see that one in my other posts. Anyway the other WE phones were dismantled by me (shocked looks from people on this site ). MY reason for this was my parents started to buy cheap phones after 1984, cordless and imitation 500, 2500 etc.... so they were extra and just laying around. I was fascinated by them and there construction and enjoyed working on them. I tought myself quite a bit about them. This is what lead to my fascination with electronics in general. So for that i am very glad.

     In learning about these phones and living thorugh the technological revolution I realized quick that WE put pride and workmanship and quality into thier products. All the phones after that time, including cellphones are chinese junk (not to inslut the chinese) but it is cheaply made products designed to break so that you have to buy new ones.

     When i got involved in the computer revolution in my teens and early adult life, when computers first came out they were exciting and new and lots of variety. I learned a lot about them and thought all the different companies and options out there were exciting. In the 90s (man i miss the 80 and 90s) IT was booming and you could have a career maintianing computers and get paid good and fair wage. Skilled labor and you felt your skills were put to good use for the betterment of society. This is how i look at WE in thier heyday. People had pride in what they did and were honored for it. It's so sad that now due to greed and politics that all the skilled labor is sent to china taiwan etc...

     All america does is service jobs now. I Think providing good service is good, but todays jobs are just boring and are all about the company paying the least that they can and raking the profits to the top without any consideration for the employees. As well as focusing on replacement vice repair. Cheaper Better Faster? not so sure about better!

     I read about people talking about WE and who worked for them and think, darn what better times. I know nothing is perfect but it sure seems better than nowadays. Just my $0.02