past or future

[Kenny C]

Alot of pepole on a facebook rotary phone group think that rotaries are the future. Tell me what you think.

[McHeath]

Well as much as I enjoy rotary phones, I do think their day is past.  Their inherent complexity makes them too expensive to produce in this day and age, and their inability to access touch tone menus and vertical services codes limits their usability.  

When the voice on the other end of the phone says, "Press one for English" and you are on a rotary, you are just stuck.  

[Phonesrfun]

While I hate to say it, I think it is a part of the past.

When touch-tone dialing came out in 1965, everyone that could afford it wanted it badly for two reasons.  First, it was cutting edge, and those that thought of themselves as cutting edge just had to be the first on their block to get it.  I was about 15 then, and I had a paper route to make my money.  My dad would not spend the extra amount to get it, so I saved up and got my own phone number, along with a touch tone phone.  I think it is so widely used that while it is a novelty, people are not going to be willing to go back.

I know that some iphones have a rotary dial emulator, which is cool, but, of course, it is not really a rotary dial, but an emulator or an "ap".

The second reason is one of the selling points for touch tone to begin with and that is the speed at which a number can be dialed and the fact that it is kind of uncomfortable to be sitting at a phone all day long dialing with a rotary dial.  I have been there, and done that.  Many people used the end of a pencil in order to save wear and tear on their fingers and fingernails, especially ladies with long nails.

Also, there is the ubiquitous use of the # and * which are used in voice response units, automatic attendants, banking and on and on.

Lastly, I think the world is headed for digital telephone "land lines"  I hate to say it, but it just may happen some day.  I hope not, because we have all seen what a mess the FCC has made out of converting TV to digital.

Unfortunately, I don't see it coming back, but it sure was different when that is all we had.

By the way, Kenny, I am Bill Geurts, and I don't think I have taken the opportunity to welcome you to the forum.  Please keep the questions coming and I am so happy you are here.

Don't let my seemingly negative comments keep you from using your rotary phone!  I still use mine, and I have also built a small demo step-by-step switch that makes a lot of noise and is fun to watch and hear.

-Bill Geurts

[Jim Stettler]

Hi Kenny,
In the late 1990's I had a boss who only used rotary. The phone company threatened to charge him a "rotary only" fee, if he didn't start  using TT sometimes.
The phone companies reasoning for the fee was that rotary switching ties up the switchgear a lot longer than tone does.

I gave him a wall  trimline.  His wife liked tt so well I gave him 2 more desk trimlines.

I usually use  speed dial and the caller ID list.
Jim Stettler

[AET]

I think that Rotaries will always have a future.  People will always enjoy them, even if only as a novelty.  I know a few people that have them, or would like to, just because they are 'fun'.

[dsk]

I will do my best to keep mine working, some things are popping up, and fading away as ISDN (who collects ISDN?)

I keep my magnetos too, but I cant even hook them up to internet.

Still it seems like the CB system will survive for years, maybe the dialpad will be less important, and voice recognition may take over??  Who knows?

I'm still waiting for the black and white TV to be modern again too.

dsk

[teka-bb]

I have most of the ISDN telephones and pabx's that were provided  to residential users  by Dutch PTT/KPN (the Dutch national telecom operator http://www.kpn.com/corporate/en/Company-profile-1/Activities/National.htm )

I used to have an ISDN-2 connection (two 64 Kbps B-channels and one 16 Kbps D-channel)  which I had converted to an ISDN-1 (1 64 Kbps B-channel and one 16 Kbps D-channel) at some point in time.

Currently I'm connected through optical fibre which provides TV, internet en voip connection.

I still use ISDN equipment in my house. My pabx only supports caller id on the ISDN trunks so I use converters to change the incoming analog voip lines into ISDN which I connect to my pabx.

[bingster]

I voted for "Future" because they were used on Max Headroom, and that's all the proof anybody should need.

[Craig T]

I just seen two kids in their early 20s wearing the hats of the 1920s. Almost everything that was cool ends up coming back. I gotta go future.

Let one of these sports superstars show up with one of those portable rotary phones and none of us are gonna have a shot at a decent phone anymore   

[Greg G.]

I just seen two kids in their early 20s wearing the hats of the 1920s. Almost everything that was cool ends up coming back. I gotta go future.

More specifics needed.  A "hat of the 1920s" could have been a newsboy, bowler, boater hat, or a fedora.

As for rotary phones, they're part of the past, they'll never be mainstream again except as novelties.

[Dan]

I say past too, but good, as in a '57 chevy or '59 eldorado convertible.

[AET]

I'm assuming he means those cheap almost cardboard trilby fedoras they're making.  I saw two high school kids wearing them yesterday at US Cellular.

I just seen two kids in their early 20s wearing the hats of the 1920s. Almost everything that was cool ends up coming back. I gotta go future.

More specifics needed.  A "hat of the 1920s" could have been a newsboy, bowler, boater hat, or a fedora.

As for rotary phones, they're part of the past, they'll never be mainstream again except as novelties.

[Craig T]

I just seen two kids in their early 20s wearing the hats of the 1920s. Almost everything that was cool ends up coming back. I gotta go future.

More specifics needed.  A "hat of the 1920s" could have been a newsboy, bowler, boater hat, or a fedora.

As for rotary phones, they're part of the past, they'll never be mainstream again except as novelties.

Could be for all I know. I seen them when I signed out of paypal. Bear with me here... he had on one of those derby cabby looking slouch hats and she was wearing a flapper hat.

Well said on the rest, I agree they won't be mainstream, but will remain available as a novelty for some time.

[jeremylivin]

Could they stay viable with adapters like this?

http://www.oldphoneworks.com/rotatone-pulse-to-tone-converter.html


Does anyone have or use one?

[Craig T]

It was discussed here among other places. If that sounds interesting, type in "Rotatone" in the search box on the upper right for more results.



http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=2106.0