by Tdarcos » Sat May 19, 2018 9:18 pm
pinback wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:30 am
Tdarcos wrote:I remember the days of the 1970s and early 1980s when telephone switches were literally switches and relays, and you could actually hear the "clunk" and "pop" of relays connecting the circuits to complete your call.
You'll forgive us if our confidence in your memory of that time period has
waned in the last couple days.
Well, you have to realize something. During the 1970s and 1980s I lived in Long Beach, California. The local telephone company was General Telephone of California (GTE),
not Pacific Telephone. GTE was an independent telephone company, not part of the Bell System the way Pacific Telephone was. This meant GTE's telephone switches - as well as phones and other equipment - were either made by its manufacturing arm, Automatic Electric, or if you were fortunate, other companies like Northern Telecom or ITT.
The California Public Utilities Commission referred to General Telephone of California as "the worst telephone company in the United States, bar none." Watch this 1980s commercial where GTE even admits its service is so bad people are throwing eggs at it's spokesman!
So yeah, I do remember. What leads you to believe otherwise?
[quote=pinback post_id=91686 time=1492626627 user_id=5]
[quote="Tdarcos"]I remember the days of the 1970s and early 1980s when telephone switches were literally switches and relays, and you could actually [i]hear[/i] the "clunk" and "pop" of relays connecting the circuits to complete your call.[/quote]
You'll forgive us if our confidence in your memory of that time period has [i]waned[/i] in the last couple days.
[/quote]
Well, you have to realize something. During the 1970s and 1980s I lived in Long Beach, California. The local telephone company was General Telephone of California (GTE), [i]not[/i] Pacific Telephone. GTE was an independent telephone company, not part of the Bell System the way Pacific Telephone was. This meant GTE's telephone switches - as well as phones and other equipment - were either made by its manufacturing arm, Automatic Electric, or if you were fortunate, other companies like Northern Telecom or ITT.
The California Public Utilities Commission referred to General Telephone of California as "the worst telephone company in the United States, bar none." Watch this 1980s commercial where GTE even admits its service is so bad people are throwing eggs at it's spokesman!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0foQoJKrc8
So yeah, I do remember. What leads you to believe otherwise?