I’m sure the array of communication devices once here was quite splendid. The sign remains to taunt us, perhaps, with reminders of a past with more public spirit and citizens with pockets full of change. (In Piccadilly Circus tube station.)
London photo: public telephones no more
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Defeated by the rise of the mobile phone; but I do vaguely recall the phones being there.
This actually makes me a little sad. Many’s the time I’ve wished for a public phone and found one out of order or gone. I have asked strangers for the use of their phone, but that’s a little uncomfortable. Viz: The time my phone service was off and I went to the local Borders bookstore (RIP), where I knew they had a phone in an out-of-the-way place and where I wouldn’t disturb anybody for a surely lengthy call. It was gone. Borrowed a phone from a staff member who let me sit in the cafe for friggin’ 45 minutes while I explained over and over that I couldn’t reboot the system, I’M NOT AT HOME, you’ll just have to SEND SOMEBODY. Guy who lent me the phone deserved a medal.
It seems a shame that they can’t think of something interesting to do with the booths. Mind you they’d probably only turn it into another overpriced snack shop.
I’ve heard talk of turning old red phone boxes into solar-powered recharging stations for mobiles!
Remember the scene in AIRPLANE! where the reporters all rush into similar phone booths and they topple over?