When Did You Last Use A Public Call Box (A.K.A. payphone) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 04:17:11 pm
content: This poll is a result of the EEVBlog post discussing payphone removal. I last used one about two years ago and if you asked me for the location of my nearest payphone I probably would not be able to tell you.I think that this particular technology is dying.German_EE

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 04:17:50 pm
content: Quote from: German_EE on May 11, 2017, 04:17:11 pm

author: Len
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 04:30:52 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on May 11, 2017, 04:17:50 pmCertainly not dead. There's a public phone right across the street from me and I see people using it somethimes.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 04:33:55 pm
content: Quote from: Len on May 11, 2017, 04:30:52 pmZombies are real!

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 04:43:28 pm
content: I can nearly remember to the day. It was late October 1997, I was moving out of state and on the way out of town I remembered I hadn't canceled the cable TV. I pulled into a rest stop off the interstate, called and cancelled from a pay phone there. It wasn't actually a box, just a phone on a pole with a hood to keep the worst of the weather off it.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 04:45:15 pm
content: I can also remember nearly the day of my last use. In June of 2000. I was stranded by an auto breakdown in a very small remote town that had no cell phone coverage. There was a single payphone on a post on the highway through town. Terrible call quality, and unusable if there was any traffic going by, but there seldom was.Here in the US pay phones are getting very thin on the ground. I notice because for years they were my fallback method to get a phone number from the attached phone book. First the phone books started disappearing and then the phones. Fortunately at about that time cellular data became good enough to for Google to work.

author: Len
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 05:05:31 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on May 11, 2017, 04:33:55 pmAlso people who cannot afford a cellphone are real.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 05:06:41 pm
content: Quote from: Len on May 11, 2017, 05:05:31 pmI sometimes forget it's the third world over that side of the pond.Actually, the third world has better cell infrastructure and pricing.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 05:34:15 pm
content: I'm sure there are places where it's not possible to afford a cell phone, but I have no idea where that might be. In the US a basic phone is $10-$15 and another $10 per month for service. Granted you're limited to 100 minutes a month and no data, but that's not unreasonable for the price.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 05:35:56 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on May 11, 2017, 05:34:15 pmAnd that's ignoring the pay-as-you-go options.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 05:46:48 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on May 11, 2017, 05:06:41 pm+1 , here we got lots of operators, no locked phone as there is no gov protected operators/cartel monopoly, price is darn cheap, network coverage is almost everywhere as the fight among them is so fierce for huge market share.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 05:52:37 pm
content: They're almost all gone around here.I remember when I was a kid my friends and I had great fun calling random payphones and seeing who answered. Then again around the time we discovered alcohol just happened to coincide with the birth of broadband internet and VOIP, there was a website called the Internet Payphone Project that had numbers for payphones all over the world along with descriptions and some photos, it was actually quite fascinating. Good times, I still remember my friend called one that was in a pub in Ireland and someone actually answered, he asked to talk to a drunk person and they said it's 7:30 in the morning, there's no drunk people here now! Time zones...

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 06:04:39 pm
content: I can't remember when I last used one, but it could easily be 50 years ago. I never used them a lot, maybe 5 times in total? I had to google to find out if there are any left and it looks like we still have like 4 in the country.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 06:10:32 pm
content: One down the road, and another I pass on the road to work, but that one is definitely out of order, as there is only half a handpiece hanging by the armoured cord.There were a whole load in the scrapyard last year, being smashed up ( even more so than usual0 for the steel case and the little bit of stainless steel in there. Got a few boards out of them, along with a load of the crypto modules, mostly because they also had some 1F 2V5 supercaps on the boards as well.

author: Fgrir
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 07:24:45 pm
content: Is there even still a wire-based telephone network for them to connect to?

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 07:41:19 pm
content: I was going to say summer 2016, but it might have actually been summer 2015. I had to call my grandmother to remind her of something when I was out doing some shopping in a nearby city. I deliberately chose a traditional red telephone box as I rather like them. I had difficulty as I couldn't get the coin mechanism to accept my coins (I later made a topic about that on this forum).Town centres and city centres always tend to have quite a lot of payphones, and I do see people using them.I've personally never had much use for payphones, although I have always quite liked the idea of them. Unlike a lot of people, this isn't because I use a mobile telephone (I don't), I just don't normally need to call anyone when I'm out.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 08:06:34 pm
content: many years ago. oh boy, i think at least 15they were phased out in italy some 5 years ago, but you could file a petition to keep them there, if not running... basically for historical reasons.imagine england without their payphones!though after the cellphone revolution they became public bathrooms for the homeless, foreingers uses their call shops anyway

author: vinicius.jlantunes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 08:09:02 pm
content: I answered "Years ago" but just realized I'm wrong - I use them almost everyday!My 3 years old daughter loves to use one that is in our way back from her school (of course she just pretends calling somewhere) and she always complains that "nobody is answering daddy"

author: yada
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 08:19:45 pm
content: A year ago? Last time was 1995. got a cell phone in 1998 when I was 16, phone costs 239.00 and was a Motorola star tack.

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 09:02:42 pm
content: I can think of around 3 fully operating, fully usable payphones where I live.However I have never used any of them because I either don't call anybody, or have a cheapie tracphone with me.But in the US, proper cellular coverage is more expensive for what you get than regular internet.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 09:34:59 pm
content: There are still some around at highway rest stops. I still occasionally pass through areas where I have no cell service. Payphones are not really needed in most cities and suburbs but they may still have value in more out of the way places.

author: czorzella
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 10:56:39 pm
content: Last time? Hmmm let me see.... it was about 25 years ago!Carlos

author: igendel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2017, 11:13:48 pm
content: Personally, I think the last time was around 2001 or 2002.That being said, there are still some working payphones around here - owned by the landline phone company, or private coin-operated ones in stores. Up until recently, they were used a lot by foreign workers to call home; I'm not sure whether it's because it was cheaper than cellphones, or because some of these workers were illegal and didn't want to be traced by buying a personal device.In the last couple of years I see less and less people use these payphones. Perhaps the prices became competitive, or acquiring an "anonymous" cellphone became easier.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 02:05:16 am
content: What the hell would I put in it even if I found one and needed to use it? I don't carry coins.

author: Mr.B
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 02:17:05 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on May 12, 2017, 02:00:43 amGenerally speaking thats exactly what they are used for here in NZ.I don't think I have seen anyone actually go into one and use it for about 20 years.I pass one every day, to and from work. After work there are usually school kids leaning up against the box using up their free 1GB per day that Spark (formally Telecom) offer.You can sit at somewhere like Auckland airport and watch the row of six payphones while waiting for your flight.I was thinking an airport might be a higher use area with visitors using them before perhaps buying a disposable cell phone.But no, never see them being used.

author: Mr.B
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 02:19:38 am
content: Quote from: xrunner on May 12, 2017, 02:05:16 amMost of them here in NZ don't accept coins.They will quite happily vacuum your credit card.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 02:23:22 am
content: I had to use one once after I left my cellphone home or the SIM card ran out of minutes, I can't remember.One advantage to payphones is they have better privacy - I watch and people using them are druggies, flat broke and need to make a call with no evidence. Great for arranging drug deals. No GPS tracking or traceability back to a person unless police correlate with nearby surveillance cameras, and not sure if Telco's record conversations as they do with cellphones.Also, after the zombie apocalypse, landlines will run for a while on 48VDC batteries.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 03:47:24 am
content: I don't think I've ever used one to make a call.If you lifted the handset on the 'newer' silver/grey pay phones (the ones that came after the orange one that Dave tore down) and hold down the # key, it would put it in an "Out of Service" mode. That was always amusing when I was a kid.If you missed Dave's tear down, here it is:

author: Hypernova
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 03:48:55 am
content: The one at Auckland airport's arrival gate on 15/12/2010, after returning from my studies in Brisbane to call home for a pick up. Turns out my parent were already in the crowd but after nearly a year without a hair cut and losing 20kg they didn't recognize me.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 04:06:29 am
content: Quote from: yada on May 11, 2017, 08:19:45 pmYeah, I'm surprised by the choice of options; i expected to see "<1 yr/5yrs/10yrs/>=15yrs" or similar!!I haven't used one since I got my fist cellphone, at age 17, back in 1997. It was a Motorola CD930 that had a beautiful transflective LCD that was easily readable by candlelight.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 04:26:25 am
content: 4Us superheros changing rooms can be hard to find

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 04:44:12 am
content: I honestly don't recall but I have used them here and there. I'd hate to see them go though, I think they still have a use, some people may find themselves in a situation where they don't have their cell or don't have a cell, or otherwise they can't use it, and need to make a call. Always good to be able to count on a backup way of making a call in an emergency situation or something.They are important enough to some people as I've had calls at work to report ones that are not working. (I work for the phone company)

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 05:04:27 am
content: 14 years ago while in Hawaii.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 05:23:24 am
content: Hmm, 23 years perhaps would be my guess, that would be when I first got a cellphone.Fun fact, as I kid I collected used phonecards (and some new "investment" ones, yeah that worked out well), I used to put ice-cream containers in phone boxes with "leave your old cards here" or words to that effect and go around collecting them, and indeed often digging through the trash cans next to the phone boxes.There was a massive boom in values of phonecards and collecting in NZ... and then an equally massive bust.I still have a briefcase full of them somewhere in the shed.

author: yada
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 06:50:33 am
content: Quote from: xrunner on May 12, 2017, 02:05:16 amEven vending machines take cards now. Nothing like buying a package of peanuts and paying 24.99% interest for years on them, even better I bet some people have gone over their limit with a vending machine purchase costing them hundreds in interest, fees, and bad credit scores. "I'm sorry mister smith your credit score is too low to afford a home, looks like back in 2011 you used your capital one card to purchase a bag of peanuts and you defaulted on your loan. Did the bank reposes that bag of peanuts?"I was in America last year down in Washington DC visiting friends and a guy asked us if they had a "coin phone" at the end of the street we were on because they used to have one. my friend replied "You must have just got out of jail because there hasn't been any pay phones around here in 6 years". The pay hones that I did see were missing the receiver and had the bottom smashed out. Looks like after they stole the coins they tried to get 0.00000001 cents worth of copper wire.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 11:49:10 am
content: Quote from: yada on May 12, 2017, 06:50:33 amWell OK, but there's got to be something out there that'll only take coins.I bet I can't use a gumball machine with a credit card!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 01:08:47 pm
content: Quote from: yada on May 12, 2017, 06:50:33 amWhat's that weird rant about? Card payment includes debit cards, prepaid credit cards, as well as revolving credit cards used by "deadbeats" like me. Nothing about card paymentrequiresyou to go into debt. (And if you do, you can do way better than 25%APR...)

author: eugenenine
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 01:29:27 pm
content: Sometime in the late 90's when I tried to respond to a call on my pager and found out the payphone buttons are disabled after the call is made so I couldn't enter the password to hear the message. I told the company we need cell phones.

author: wilhelm
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 01:55:27 pm
content: They are all removed in Sweden.1981: 44.0001992: 33.0001996: 32.0002001: 13.0002003: 7.3002009: 2.9002010: 2.7002015: All removedEven the copper landlines are in process to be removed and replaced with optical fibre or wireless.

author: skarecrow
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 02:42:12 pm
content: Quote from: yada on May 12, 2017, 06:50:33 amYou joke abour that, but years back a friend of mine actually DID end up paying over $75 for a soda he bought with hin card, not realizing the 50 cent (or however much it was) can put him over his limit.Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

author: Zbig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 03:20:54 pm
content: Taken at Budapest main rail station, 2007.

author: DenzilPenberthy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 03:22:21 pm
content: Quote from: Len on May 11, 2017, 05:05:31 pmNothing to do with cost. People who buy and sell drugs and don't want to use their own mobile phone to do it are real

author: skarecrow
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 03:24:48 pm
content: Quote from: Zbig on May 12, 2017, 03:20:54 pmAwesome picture. You should submit that to 2600 magazine to be printed on the back cover.Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

author: frozenfrogz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 03:38:39 pm
content: Here in Germany, you will find payphones occasionally. I would love to see the units still in service to be opened to everyone as a free-of-charge communication device. Since they most likely use IP telephony anyway, why not just offer it as a service?

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 04:06:19 pm
content: Quote>QuoteGreat idea! Its been done but it didn't last long when I've seen it tried. I think what likely happened is somebody eventually brought up this.:The trade deal on services many countries including Germany as well as the US, entered in 1995 actually at its very beginning starts out declaring its very broad scope "all measures of general application affecting trade in services" and then in the next article it declares that unless a government has completely subsidized a service in a country such that it is the only provider and no other competitors exist it is NOT supposed to provide it, except under exceptional circumstances and then only if everything else possible especially things involving international trade, are available (a database of "least trade restrictive" practices is being set up by OECD) and were tried first.However, it appears that initially, the situation with telecommunications were a bit more complex, and many nations having their own national monopolies likely wanted to keep them so it must beva been contentious.Telecommunications brings up issues of subsidies to cover comercially unprofitable areas, subsidies are quite controversial.Generally in the GATS (which likely is not the only agreement in play, as the WTO does have a separate agreement on telecommunications) giving away something for free even if as you bring up its actual cost is nothing is strongly sanctioned as a theft from sellers of that service. I know that that ethic definitely applies now in WTO countries (as evidenced by the following) but how did we get there? It took longer than it did in many other service sectors and telecommunications still is handled differently in some areas.This is a description of the general rule that applies whenever a service does have commercial competitors:.QuoteQuoteOne way to think about it is who owns the defaults? In the past it was amorphously "the people". Not any longer.IMHO multinational corporations put this system in place to change the default ownership of the planet to them.I think this was is totally outrageous and quite evil because nobody ever voted to do that.

author: boffin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 04:21:31 pm
content: I used one a couple of weeks ago. It was 60p (UK) for a callProblem is that travelers are often screwed by cell companies when travelling out of the country. If I wanted to make my phone work in the UK it's something like $2/minute, or a $25 package. Even going between the USA and Canada I have two SIMs to deal with the annoyance.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 05:36:33 pm
content: I haven't had a copper landline in almost a decade, I have fiber right up to my house. I only have internet service on it but the system is capable of supporting a landline of sorts.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 05:37:12 pm
content: That should make it fun running an analog fax machine, as the transmission rate is 33.600 baud they don't like VOIP circuits.On the subject of phone cards, I have a BT '5th Element' phone card that was produced to celebrate the release of the movie. If there are any phonecard collectors out there then PM me, first come first served.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 05:40:14 pm
content: I think I last used an analog fax machine around the same time I last used a payphone. We have one at work that is on some kind of business VOIP service, apparently it works but I don't recall ever using it.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 06:23:00 pm
content: Oddly, there were somebrand newpayphones installed in Sheffield city centre a few years ago. They have adverts on the side, and a wheelchair logo, and are mounted quite low down (presumably they are trying to appeal to wheelchair users), and they have a little antenna sticking out of the top, so I wonder if they are GSM phones. I think the price was quite low, maybe 20p or 30p; considerably lower than BT's 60p.Don't think I've ever seen anyone use them.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 06:54:41 pm
content: I just did a bit of digging, and it looks like these new ones are owned by Infocus Public Networks Ltd and they have quite a few across the country:http://www.infocuspublicnetworks.co.uk/index.htmlhttp://www.infocus-media.org.uk/Here's a couple of articles about them:http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=phoneboxadvertising003.htmhttp://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/thieves-target-14-city-centre-9456346

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2017, 06:59:47 pm
content: Quote from: Mr.B on May 12, 2017, 02:17:05 amI was in Auckland a few years ago and got a Spark SIM card for my phone. Lots of pink phone booths around for Wi-Fi. I actually used the phone in one of the booths because SIM activation didn't work for a while. The guy at the airport Spark store must've missed a step or something. Had to be sure it was operating properly before heading to the south island.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 03:57:27 pm
content: Funnily enough, this appeared in this morning's paper. Looks like Sheffield might be getting some new telephone boxes.

author: med6753
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2017, 10:37:44 pm
content: Probably around 2001 or so. As of now I'm not aware of any in my area. The last one I recall seeing was taken out about 3 years ago.I was late in the game in getting a cell. Around 2005. And up until 2010 had a land line. Exclusively cell now.