Folks have been declaring their imminent demise for years. With changes in the telecom industry, more conservative policies relating to property management, and the widespread use of cell phones, they're certainly less prevalent than they used to be.
But whether for a practical community service, or because of an odd quirk in a community's history, payphones still stand vigil on street corners and in parks everywhere.
A while back - actually, years ago - I caught a news story on an odd site called the Payphone Project. It was a site where the phone numbers and locations of payphones were collected, sometimes with photos. At first the guy just had it up so people could find a number to dial at random for fun. But, most payphones don't accept incoming calls anymore, and the site owner found there were practical reasons for making the database available. Say, for a parent who got a call from a runaway child, or a person suffering from a series of prank calls.
He even had a few numbers for Hawaii (this is on the "old site").
Getting a call from a prepaid phone card today reminded me of the Payphone Project. But I see that he's rebuilt from scratch to use a large database, but it's one utterly devoid of Hawaii numbers.
It made me wonder if an independent Hawaii payphone list might be useful. Or, if not, something fun to try. ("Fun" is relative, of course... there was that "bathroom review site" idea from a while back...) Not a major undertaking, mind you. Just one of those things you do on a whim when you're walking around town. If you carry a digital camera, like me, it could even become a pseudo-art project.
Do you use payphones? Even if not, even if you think they're obsolete, is there a part of you that finds them curious and quaint? Or am I just weird?
But whether for a practical community service, or because of an odd quirk in a community's history, payphones still stand vigil on street corners and in parks everywhere.
A while back - actually, years ago - I caught a news story on an odd site called the Payphone Project. It was a site where the phone numbers and locations of payphones were collected, sometimes with photos. At first the guy just had it up so people could find a number to dial at random for fun. But, most payphones don't accept incoming calls anymore, and the site owner found there were practical reasons for making the database available. Say, for a parent who got a call from a runaway child, or a person suffering from a series of prank calls.
He even had a few numbers for Hawaii (this is on the "old site").
Getting a call from a prepaid phone card today reminded me of the Payphone Project. But I see that he's rebuilt from scratch to use a large database, but it's one utterly devoid of Hawaii numbers.
It made me wonder if an independent Hawaii payphone list might be useful. Or, if not, something fun to try. ("Fun" is relative, of course... there was that "bathroom review site" idea from a while back...) Not a major undertaking, mind you. Just one of those things you do on a whim when you're walking around town. If you carry a digital camera, like me, it could even become a pseudo-art project.
Do you use payphones? Even if not, even if you think they're obsolete, is there a part of you that finds them curious and quaint? Or am I just weird?
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