Frightening Video

[LarryInMichigan]

I don't normally like posting links to 'cute' videos and things, but this one frightened me a bit.  I still haven't gotten over young peoples' puzzlement at my candlesticks.

video link

Larry

[twocvbloke]

It's funny because it highlights the lack of education in the system, teaching kids what these mysterious objects are and what they're there for aswell as the history of how they came to be, rather than just throwing a smartphone at them and expecting them to know everything immediately...

[Dan/Panther]

This type stuff bothers me. I was born in 1949, but I know what a Ox pulled plow is, I didn't live on a farm, I know what a telegraph key is, I never used one, I know what Stanley Steamers is, never seen one in person. I do not understand how ANYONE that is conscious, can be so oblivious of the world around them, or don't care about the world around them.
I don't blame technological advancement, I blame the system of education, and parents. The dumbing down of the worlds youth at it's finest.
A Shame, NO CRIMINAL.
D/P

[Sargeguy]

C'mon, give the kid some credit, he figured out it was an "old fashioned phone".  He's only about seven!  Maybe we should ask him about this thing:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14219.0

He can't do much worse than we did!

Whenever someone posts something like this about how kids today can't operate a rotary phone I post a picture of my NET&T two boxer and ask them to tell me how it works.   It's usually good for a laugh!

[savageje]

My son is 10 and you can be sure that he knows how to identify and use a rotary phone.  My son will often call his grandparents on a Sunday evening using one of my 302s or a 500 set.  My wife and I have cell phones, but the only phones we have connected to our landline are Western Electrics.  The most "cutting edge" phone I have installed in the house is a brown touch-tone Trimline that I have wall-mounted in the kitchen.  I was fortunate enough to have parents, grandparents, and teachers that taught me to appreciate the past -- and I definitely want my kids to do the same. 

[WEBellSystemChristian]

One of my friends, upon seeing and examining my '56 Med Blue, proceded to pick up the handset upside-down!! At least this kid held it correctly...

To be honest, I would have barely understood how to properly use a Payphone a couple years ago. In fact, I still have never actually used one properly...

[savageje]

One of my friends, upon seeing and examining my '56 Med Blue, proceded to pick up the handset upside-down!! At least this kid held it correctly...

To be honest, I would have barely understood how to properly use a Payphone a couple years ago. In fact, I still have never actually used one properly...

Understandable, given the rise of cellular phones.   I hate to see pay stations disappearing though.  I understand there isn't much need for them these days, but it is still reassuring to know that they are there if you need them.  What do you do if you are away from home in a public area, your cell phone dies (or there is a network outage), and you need to make a call?  I used to travel quite a bit and have had this happen more than once. 

Cop movies just aren't the same without pay phones either.  I shudder to think what the original Dirty Harry movie would have been without that long scene with Clint Eastwood running from phone booth to phone booth all across San Francisco to make a ransom drop.  You never know when some cloak and dagger situation like that might crop up in your life.  ;-D

[podor]

I was born in '77. My generation is one of the last to have rented WE phones in our house. My kids are 3, 8 and 11. I haven't had a POTS line for at least 8 years. When we did, we had cordless phones. Even my parents have had cordless phones for at least 20 years. It wouldn't suprise me if a 10 year old has never seen a chorded phone. I have an intercom system with a automatic ringdown box and a bunch of classic phones throughout the house that are always a huge hit when the kid's friends come over. They all know how to use them with no problem. I would imagine the kid in the video may not represent the majority of kids today.

[andre_janew]

Yes, it is frightening that a lot of young kids don't know what a payphone is.  However, what is even more frightening is that some young kids don't even know what money looks like because they are so used to seeing credit and debit cards!

[savageje]

Yes, it is frightening that a lot of young kids don't know what a payphone is.  However, what is even more frightening is that some young kids don't even know what money looks like because they are so used to seeing credit and debit cards!

True...I am always amused when I pay for something with cash and the cashier looks like his/her eyes are going to fall out of their sockets. "Trendy" places like Starbucks are where I usually find this kind of reaction.  On the other hand, I still run into quite a few places that won't take plastic.  I find that inconvenient if I don't have the required cash on me -- but I also understand people not wanting to pay the credit card processing fees. 

[Godfather367]

Years ago, I was at a garage sale with my daughter, she must have been around 6 or 7, the people had an old military vehicle for sale in their driveway and I asked if I can take a look inside. We went over to the vehicle and he opened the door and my daughter looked at the inside of the door and saw the window crank and asked me, "what is that, daddy?" It was kind of a wake up call for me. I wasn't going to have my daughter grow up and not know about how it was in the "old days", lol. She knows how to use a rotary phone, she knows what televisions used to look like, she knows how to tell time with an analog clock, she even helps me build/paint/detail model car kits! Don't get me wrong, she does have an iphone, and a playstation,  I'm not keeping her inside a "bubble", but at least she can appreciate the way things were. 

[Holtzer-Cabot]

It's funny because it highlights the lack of education in the system, teaching kids what these mysterious objects are and what they're there for aswell as the history of how they came to be, rather than just throwing a smartphone at them and expecting them to know everything immediately...

agree with this, I am 14, probably one of the youngest collectors here, and I have never used a smartphone! I use Western Electric 500s on my landline, a W.E. TouchTone TrimLine desk phone, and a W.E. 302, and a 1903 Stromberg-Carlson candlestick phone with magneto subset.