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

[classic33]

Don't bother with a stamp and they'll have to pay to receive it...

Done that.
Printed white label, no handwriting to go by and refuse it.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I was doing a lot of work in a telex room during the opening of the Falklands Crisis/war.
We had to be on hand 24x7 to reply to messages
We used to sleep in shifts on the only sofa in the office which was in the reception.

When the Atlantic Conveyor got hit the entire system went into overdrive, we had to get the lawyers in the office below us to loan us their telex machines and operators (no doubt at lawyers rates)

We had a big map up in our lounge in the dormitory, as we had several European and South American students living on our floor at the time. The map showed fleet dispositions and fleet actions, and later the land engagements.

 

[raleighnut]

My Father was one of the radio operators on RAF Gan,

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjV3--Fiu7RAhXKLsAKHVmMDjMQFggcMAA&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Gan&usg=AFQjCNG-YhwUaY3Unis3-M8Jo_ABkh_6uQ

He was one of the people that rebroadcast the news of the assassination of JFK around the world.

I was doing a lot of work in a telex room during the opening of the Falklands Crisis/war.
We had to be on hand 24x7 to reply to messages
We used to sleep in shifts on the only sofa in the office which was in the reception.

When the Atlantic Conveyor got hit the entire system went into overdrive, we had to get the lawyers in the office below us to loan us their telex machines and operators (no doubt at lawyers rates)

 

[Starchivore]

Here's wot I wrote in another thread on the topic;

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/gadgets-at-the-table.168339/post-3362104

That was interesting, I hadn't thought about how it would affect people with more niche interests, who aren't into the same things most of the people around them are. It's a lot easier now to get in touch with people who share your interests now and that can be very good.


But I suppose there was always still pen-palling, which with letters must have been quite special. There must have been lots of charming exchanges, like this between Morrissey and some friend or other who I think he "met" as a penpal through some music magazine or something:

 

[John the Monkey]

That was interesting, I hadn't thought about how it would affect people with more niche interests, who aren't into the same things most of the people around them are. It's a lot easier now to get in touch with people who share your interests now and that can be very good.

But I suppose there was always still pen-palling, which with letters must have been quite special. There must have been lots of charming exchanges, like this between Morrissey and some friend or other who I think he "met" as a penpal through some music magazine or something:

View attachment 335731

Well, the devil will find work for idle hands to do.

I suppose, in the end, it depends on whether you think loneliness and misery are character building...

 

[Starchivore]

Well, the devil will find work for idle hands to do.

I suppose, in the end, it depends on whether you think loneliness and misery are character building...

It certainly could have been an issue for me growing up. Although I don't know if the internet and talking to people online was more of a help or a crutch for me.

 

[Globalti]

I agree with @ColinJ, I've met some characters though the internet, both through cycling and earlier, my interest in Land Rover fettling and driving. I've learned a lot and been able to help people a lot. I've also used the internet to buy and sell stuff, sometimes in quite exceptional places - for example I sold a worn out old leather motorcycling jacket to a fashion boutique in Tokyo!

 

[Alex H]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned pagers. As a field engineer in the 80's, fixing computers in the northern home counties and east anglia, being in communication with only a pager was very frustrating at times.

In the country areas relatively simple - find a village, find the phonebox , phone the office.

In a city (especially London obvs) find a phonebox, find another with a working phone this time and a space to leave the car without having to pay, or go in a multi-storey or walk miles, phone the office. Respond politely to the dispatcher who wants to know why you haven't answered the last 5 pages.

Possibly, drive lots of miles back to the area you've just come from to visit a customer near to the one you've just been to - very enjoyable when the M25 is the shortest and quickest route

 

[classic33]

@ColinJ, any reply?

 

[ColinJ]

@ColinJ, any reply?

I eventually got a notification that the message had been received, and then a reply at 08:00 the following morning. Apparently the phone had been on charge in another room the night before when I sent my message. I forgot to ask if it was switched off at the time. (I don't switch my phone off to charge it, but maybe the owner did not want to be disturbed. I'll ask next time we speak.)

 

[ChrisV]

What I liked was that if you were out and about, you could swing by someone's house on the off chance they were in, or they might appear at yours. They might not be in, so you might decide to do something else close by, which meant you may bump into someone you otherwise might not have.

It's taken away the random nature of life - everything is controlled, known, convenient. No one just wanders aimlessly anymore through the land of infinite possibilities.

 

[classic33]

What I liked was that if you were out and about, you could swing by someone's house on the off chance they were in, or they might appear at yours. They might not be in, so you might decide to do something else close by, which meant you may bump into someone you otherwise might not have.

It's taken away the random nature of life - everything is controlled, known, convenient. No one just wanders aimlessly enemy through the land of infinite possibilities.

Except when or where there's no signal. Then people get lost and don't know what to do.

 

[ufkacbln]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned pagers. As a field engineer in the 80's, fixing computers in the northern home counties and east anglia, being in communication with only a pager was very frustrating at times.

In the country areas relatively simple - find a village, find the phonebox , phone the office.

In a city (especially London obvs) find a phonebox, find another with a working phone this time and a space to leave the car without having to pay, or go in a multi-storey or walk miles, phone the office. Respond politely to the dispatcher who wants to know why you haven't answered the last 5 pages.

Possibly, drive lots of miles back to the area you've just come from to visit a customer near to the one you've just been to - very enjoyable when the M25 is the shortest and quickest route

Still have a place!

Where there is a rotating post such as duty manager etc, passing the pager ensures the correct person is bleeped as opposed to the hassle of looking up a rota, seeing who is duty, looking up their mobile etc

However answering is much, much easier

 

[raleighnut]

What I liked was that if you were out and about, you could swing by someone's house on the off chance they were in, or they might appear at yours. They might not be in, so you might decide to do something else close by, which meant you may bump into someone you otherwise might not have.

It's taken away the random nature of life - everything is controlled, known, convenient. No one just wanders aimlessly anymore through the land of infinite possibilities.

Ah but you pretty much knew friends routines then, like at such and such a time 'Dave' would be at work/down the pub/out on the bike etc.

 

[perplexed]

I sent an email to a friend in the early days when it was still a novelty to receive one.

She got it two months later...