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Saturday September 4, 2010

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Ric's Blog: Besieged by communication

Posted by: By Ric Ditchburn | 1 June, 2009 - 5:16 PM
Magic callers 2116479 was our phone number way back around 1961 when we lived in East Malvern (or Malvern East as it is now).

I think it was the first time we had ever had a telephone in our house . And I'm sure I remember the number so well because it was written on the dial. It was a really beautiful piece of equipment, old looking and really quaint with a funny old cord that used to get all tangled and twisted.

The funny thing about the phone was that it hardly ever got used. My Dad certainly drilled into us that it cost a lot of money. So when you needed to talk to your mate Steve, you would jump on your bike and go around and see him.

Which was always a good thing anyway, because Pattie, his mum, would always have something delicious to eat when you got there. Always !

As we got older and started dating, the phone was used a little more frequently, to make a date with a new girlfriend or to break off a short-lived relationship with another one. But even so, the phone was never a huge part of our lives.

Lurch forward 40 years and what a remarkable turnaround. Now it seems like everyone is on the phone ALL the time. We have cordless phones at home so you can do the ironing while you chat to Auntie Beryl. And it would seem that everybody has at least one mobile phone. And we don't just make calls, we text and surf the internet, we play games and take photographs.

We do this all the time. It doesn't matter whether we are in the car, at work or out with friends for a meal, the mobile phone is a constant companion. It is also at times, in my opinion, a constant source of irritation and annoyance.

My point is, what's changed? Why now do we need to be constantly clinging to our phones when 40 years ago they hardly played a role in our lives?

Nine years ago when we came back from New Zealand I bought both of my daughters mobile phones ... "just in case" they needed to call dad for help.

I bet you've done the same thing. But you know what … in those nine years I've never had a call … for "help" ... loads of calls to be the taxi driver or to borrow money … but never a crisis.

Two phones … 50 bucks a month for nine years … you do the maths.

And my old Dad was worried about the twenty cents a month 2116479 used to cost back in the sixties!!

Let us know your thoughts.

Blog comments Your Say

  • Ric
    I went in to a shop to get a new cell phone (Ihave,nt got used to the word Mobile yet, but have lived here for 41 years.)
    I was offered a phone called an I phone on which I could play a fishing game. it even let me cast the line by flinging the pho es as in in casting, "Good,I said, but does it make phone calls?" "it connects to the internet and your e-mail", the sale person went on. eventually he realised that I wanted a simple phone with a camera option, not essential, useful. The cost came down from Nearly $1000.00 to $59.95 for the basic phone. Do we need all those options or do we just like gadgetry and having the latest device to impress our friends

    Chris King Monday 17 August, 2009 - 11:55 AM

  • i am 65 years old, and in my childhood years telephones were for rich people, most people visited each other, sat down and had a cuppa and a yarn.Mobile phones have killed all that, why go visiting when it is easier to text someone? My first job was with the P.M.G. delivering telegrams, young people now say, what was a telegram? Life has got too fast, and i would love to have the old days back.

    ron kelsen Wednesday 8 July, 2009 - 6:41 PM

  • Hi RIC,
    I am a high school teacher and sometimes I have students texting the person sitting next to them.How neccessary is this?
    Communication today?
    Regards John and Rhonda.

    J and R McIntosh. Tuesday 23 June, 2009 - 8:08 PM

  • Hi Ric,
    We never had the phone on at home but our neighbour did, but that number was only ever to used for DIRE emergencies, so of course we never used it. Had to go up the street to use the phone box, but not many of my friends had the phone on anyway, unlike today, if you didn't have the phone on you would be considered very weird.

    Jane Fisher Sunday 14 June, 2009 - 9:23 AM

  • Hi Ric,

    Nice piece, but in 1961 it would have been BB 6479 or 21 6479.

    We were in Camberwell with BX 5229 (29 5229) ...

    Melbourne didn't get 6 digit numbers until the late 60's.

    Cheers,

    james

    James Nixon Saturday 6 June, 2009 - 6:03 PM

  • How right you are. I remember when we first got the phone on at home in the 60's, you would never just pick up the phone and make a call. You would have to go through explaining why you needed to use the phone and why you couldn't go around to the public phone around the corner. Of course it was all about cost and being 1 of 6 children it all came into the price factor of everything. Now I have my own children and thank god they are grown up now and running their own households they can relate to why I would ask " why do you have to pick up the phone and ring whoever for things that can wait till tomorrow" seeing that you just left there. Technology is suppose to be a good thing but sometimes I wonder when you see how lazy people are becoming what the future will hold for all of us.

    Georgina Millard Saturday 6 June, 2009 - 8:04 AM

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