PHOTOS: The Indescribable Burden of Payphones

[dewline]

From 2009.

I still say we need them in public places. No matter what Bell's balance sheets seem to say to them.

Comments

[sabotabby]

I love them, just as elements of the urban landscape. And some people still need them!

[numb3r_5ev3n]

No lie.

[lyrical_heart]

Payphones are becoming extinct nowadays with cells and the like?

[mtbc]

So very handy though on those rare occasions when one's cell isn't an option.

I'm missing clocks too, even in places like transportation hubs, I'd guess for the same reason: people check their cell instead.

[lyrical_heart]

Aye, I just bought my sister a smartwatch. Technology!

[armiphlage]

12% of Canadian households don't have a cellphone.

0.7% of Canadian households lack either cellphone or landline service.

So basically the entire population of Manitoba is still reliant upon payphones.


https://crtc.gc.ca/pubs/cmr2018-en.pdf

[cmcmck]

Yes!

It tends to be the least well off and least well connected who still need them.

And our red boxes are iconic!

[thewayne]

Unfortunately they are disappearing at a rapid pace.

I used to purchase the hacker magazine 2600 regularly, and they devoted the inside back cover to photos of pay phones around the world. I looked around for them while in Europe to contribute, but didn't have much luck - it also wasn't my primary focus.

[dewline]

I remember 2600, and I see that their website is still functional. Almost ducked into that newsstand in the ByWard Market to see if the hardcopy edition is still being carried this morning. But it felt like I was pushing my luck just by visiting my bookseller and barber shop on Elgin, across the canal.