Pre- mobiles and internet time, question for those who knew it

[raleighnut]

When my local shut (The 'Mag' as mentioned earlier) a lot of us started going to a bar called The Vaults, as this was a cellar bar it was a dead spot for mobiles.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

We didn't have a phone until the mid 1980's, and we only got one because my Good lady insisted on us getting one. Now we don't have a landline phone as we've all gone over to mobiles.

I'd consider that, but I use a desktop PC so need a landline for the internet and I also have many older customers who do not like calling mobile numbers.

 

[ColinJ]

My problem these days is seeing what I'm doing.

Ha ha - that was what made me realise that I wasn't young any more! A young technician with perfect eyesight was trying to show me a modification that needed to be made to a pile of circuit boards. It involved desoldering one pin on a chip on the board, bending it up, and soldering a resistor to it. The problem was that the pins on the chip were so small that I couldn't make them out - there were several per millimetre!

 

[HF2300]

It was definitely easier in the old days. For example I wish I'd joined this thread way back when it was only a couple of pages long rather than having to catch up with the 13 it is now...

 

[tyred]

What I want to know is why one's butler doesn't handle the communications so one isn't disturbed unnecessarily?

 

[Drago]

I now receive the news by one of those new fangled Edison ticker tape telegraph devices.

 

[ColinJ]

Pre-unlimited broadband shock-horror ... I once ran up a £100 phone bill IN ONE WEEK() on slow dial-up internet!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

We didn't have a phone until the mid 1980's, and we only got one because my Good lady insisted on us getting one. Now we don't have a landline phone as we've all gone over to mobiles.

I still have a landline phone (sort of): it's a VOIP setup. The problem is: I've hardly used it the last few years, and I'm seriously considering getting rid of it. It doesn't work during power outages, and sometimes the connection fails for no apparent reason (glitches in the VOIP connection, I'm guessing). My mobile phone is far more reliable, and costs a consistent amount every month (I'm not a heavy phone user, anyway).

 

[the_mikey]

We didn't even have a landline telephone in the house until 1986, before then we had to walk some distance down the road to get to the telephone box, but we knew all of our neighbours and our neighbours neighbours..

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I'd consider that, but I use a desktop PC so need a landline for the internet and I also have many older customers who do not like calling mobile numbers.

We've still got the landline, but only use it for internet, we haven't had a phone plugged into it for several years.

 

[cyberknight]

I'd consider that, but I use a desktop PC so need a landline for the internet and I also have many older customers who do not like calling mobile numbers.

Are they like me ? I hve mobile on payg nd i use £3 max month credit as i use the landline broadband for internet /emails .Annoys me when people phone me on my mobile when im at home as i view the mobile as something to contact me on when im not at home nd its important.

 

[subaqua]

My grandparents died in 1985 and they were one of many in our village who did not have a land line. The only reason ours was put in originally was because my grandfather was a volunteer fireman and he had to have one to make his bell work. He preceded the 'beeper' generation.

My Aunt and Uncle only had a land line when they moved house in 1993, up until then if they wanted to phone someone, they would come and use ours.

My nan ( dads mum ) died in 87 and didn't have a phone . Grandad ( mums dad) died in 2002 and didn't have a phone .
My uncle ( mums bro) got a phone in 1992 .When I was 20 !

When I moved into my own owned house in 96 I didn't have a landline. Getting a laptop in 99 was the kicker as needed one for dial up Internet.

I had a mobile( 94) before landline . Which seems to be the common thing now.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Much prefer the current arrangements to those which pertained in the 80's when I started at work.

 

[mybike]

My parents had a telephone before I was 5. I know that because it was then that we moved within the same exchange area (Blackfen to Welling) and were able to keep the same number. The phone I remember was a 300 type, black bakelite with a drawer for frequently used numbers. In those days the line was fused and had a lightning protector at both ends. My uncle's (newsagents/tobacco/sweets) shop, in Bermondsey, had been part of a grocery so had a wall mounted (wooden box & ringer) phone to contact the other shop. I'm pretty certain that we had the phone so my mother could keep in touch with her mother, with whom the uncle lived.

 

[Tim Hall]

Are they like me ? I hve mobile on payg nd i use £3 max month credit as i use the landline broadband for internet /emails .Annoys me when people phone me on my mobile when im at home as i view the mobile as something to contact me on when im not at home nd its important.

How do they know you're at home until you answer it and tell them? If it annoys you do much, why not switch your mobile off when at home?