Terry Blanton wrote:
Did you know that you can still pulse dial with the hookswitch? You have to be consistent and fast but it can be done. Easier than Morse code.
Ha! A repeated hook switch flash, as they call it in the phone biz. I didn't know you could pull that off.
It reminds me of the early days of DTMF when people -- including some now high and mighty industry leaders -- were involved in ripping off the phone company with tone generators. Some guy was reportedly able to do this with a plastic whistle from a package of Captain Crunch cereal, circa 1972.
In the same YouTube selection as the AT&T video, there is a cute silent movie video from the 1920s explaining how to use dial telephones. One of the things it points out is that with a number such as 3-4142 (where 3 was the office code) you do not have to dial the hyphen, and in fact there is no way to do it. That confused people then, and it confuses us now with computer entry screens for credit cards and the like.
There is also a stop action movie showing a dial telephone being assembled from hundreds of parts by an animated character. Great stuff!
- Jed
