subject: Requiem For A Phone Booth; The Extinction Of The Payphone [print this page] Maroon Five's latest top 50's hit finds the group front runner and vocalist Adam Levine belting out to ears across the globe the downfall of a crumbling relationship as he croons, "I'm at a payphone trying to call home...where have the times gone baby it's all wrong.." If you are like me you're probably wondering, where on Earth Levine just is. Take a moment and think about it, when is the last time you used a payphone? Much less even saw one?
Where have the times gone indeed is the question to be asking when pondering the extinction of what was once the iconic image of the metropolitan community. The payphone saw multiple 15 minutes of fame as it was featured in hundreds of movies, television shows and theatre performances since it first made its debut back in 1889. While the phone booth's extinction isn't rooted in as much mystery as that of the dinosaurs or Mayans it is just as interesting to see how technology has largely rendered this once advanced innovation ineffectual.
William Grey, the mind behind the world's first phone booth originally implemented his invention in a small financial firm in the mid west. His prototype model still had a number of kinks to workout largely in the areas of wiring and call load. Seeing what a great opportunity this was to capitalize on, an emerging telephone company by the name of Western Electric further developed Grey's technology and put onto the market what is now known as the phone booth.
But just like any technological innovation, time runs its course and greater minds come along with even greater ideas. What was once heralded as groundbreaking has since died away to more modern forms of communication like cell phones and chat programs like Skype and AOL Instant Messenger. By the close of 2010 most of the leading names in the telecommunications industry have parted their ways with the phone booth and have instead turned to cellular and internet technology.
So what has happened to the countless booths that populated street corners and building alcoves across the world? Well, some of them remain in their place of installation, serving as an artifact from the past. Others have been vandalized and taken away to a local landfills or dumps but some of the luckier ones have received a facelift that allows for them to be continually used citizens today.
Some cities in China and Europe have opted to change these booths into public WiFi hotspots allowing them to still be used for communication purposes but with a more modern twist. Others have been taken under the wings of artists and other creative folk who transform them into works of art on display for the public.
With this trend towards extinction, it is interesting to note that they have had their peaks of usefulness in recent years. Just like generators, payphones played a major role in assisting the people affected by hurricane Katrina. Hundreds of people made use of payphones and phone booths as cell phones were either lost or the power lines supplying energy to the buildings who keep cell service up and running lost power.
Next time you happen to catch a glimpse of a pay phone or phone booth, consider taking a moment to snap a picture to show a future generation and just like Maroon Five, you too can ponder for a fleeting moment, "where HAVE the times gone?"
by: Max Stanford
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