So here we go again :)

Telex. I told you I worked at a radio station in 1970. I liked playing the music but didn't like the BS that went with it. Anyway, our news source was a Telex machine connected directly to UPI (United Press International) one of two main news sources in the US. They had a bell system to announce new or updated stories. Twice per hour they had a summary that you could 'rip and read' to deliver the news. It was the way newspapers, television stations and radio stations got ALL their information. 'Big' stations had 2 Telex machines. One from UPI and one from Associated Press International (API). They absolutely controlled the disemination of news in the US.

I never had a Newton, but I did have a Palm Pilot. They were really good for shopping lists and 'to do' lists. Which meant that I didn't have much use for them :) In all honesty, I had one for the 'cool' factor, not that I actually used it, except to whip out at the appropriate time to impress whoever.

The rotary phone dial was around for a LONG time. It was just what everybody had, and they did't change much.

I got my fingers on the 'touch tone' phone for the first time at the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1962. AT & T had a display highlighting the technology. I got picked to show that an ordinary person (in this case a precocious 11 year old) could dial much faster even the very first time they used it. It was considered a really big deal at the time, and didn't come into popular use for a good many years. Mostly because AT&T had a complete monopoly on all things related to phones and it was much cheaper to continue with the rotary.

Thanks for another great post in the series. You KNOW I love remembering.