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Discussion » Questions » Television and Movies » What are some things you see in old movies and TV shows that never happen nowadays because smartphones exist? (See examples below.)
Randy D

What are some things you see in old movies and TV shows that never happen nowadays because smartphones exist? (See examples below.)


1. “Cab driver, pull over at the next pay phone you see; I need to make a phone call.”

2. “Stay right by your phone and wait for my call, don’t leave even for a second!”

3.  Denise carefully jots down the phone number in her address book.

4. “The only phone is downstairs, so be careful not to awaken the others when going down there to make the call.”

~


Posted - April 17, 2019
Tags : None

Responses


  • 46117
    Careful what you say, someone is listening on the party line.  Nosey neighbor.  

    (You are too young for that one)  We had connections that consisted of sharing phone lines at busy times of the day and it was polite and expected that whomever was on the line first had priority and everyone else had to hang up and wait.  You see, you would pick up your phone and hear a dial tone or people talking.  If you heard anyone, you needed to hang up.  Then there were the hogs who would talk forever and you would fight with them to hang up the phone and get off the line.  This was late 1950's early '60's era.


      April 18, 2019 12:08 AM MDT
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  • 53048

      I’m not too young for that one: I remember party lines very well.

    ~
      April 18, 2019 12:09 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    Wow.  It seems so long ago and far away . I bet there is a Twilight Zone episode on that.  It seems like they would do something with that idea.  
      April 18, 2019 12:21 AM MDT
    1

  • 33050
    We had a party line in the 1990s. Very rural community. 


      April 18, 2019 5:48 AM MDT
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  • 14
    Dramatically slamming a phone down to hang up.
      April 18, 2019 3:16 AM MDT
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  • 10159
    The intruder cutting the phone lines so no one could call the police.
      April 18, 2019 5:22 AM MDT
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  • 6023
    Yeah ... now the intruders can buy a cell jammer from China.

    lol
      April 18, 2019 8:16 AM MDT
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  • 33050
    Someone fleeing in a car but unable to call for help. 
      April 18, 2019 5:50 AM MDT
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  • 6098
    You see people who are able to walk away from their jobs at quitting time and enjoy rest and relaxation until they have to go to work the next day.  Not only will I not have a smartphone but have never had any cell phone except for a particular job where I had an iPhone for a year.  My husband has one and gets calls 24/7 so there is no down time which I think is wrong.  We still have a land line which is mostly - well a few people we know locally use it but is mostly sales and fund-raising appeals.  I often take the phone off the hook after 8 P.M.
      April 18, 2019 6:00 AM MDT
    2

  • 6023
    If he is getting calls from business after hours ... multiple court cases say they have to pay him for that time, if he is an hourly employee.
    That means they likely owe him overtime.
      April 18, 2019 8:20 AM MDT
    1

  • 53048

      That depends on the job itself, and/or whether or not such stipulations are spelled out when hired.  Also, for my job in particular, if I don’t respond to an after-hours call or a message until I’m back on duty, I cannot claim it as time worked. 
    ~
      April 18, 2019 8:43 AM MDT
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  • 6023

    if I don’t respond to an after-hours call or a message until I’m back on duty, I cannot claim it as time worked. 
    That should go without saying.

    That depends on the job itself, and/or whether or not such stipulations are spelled out when hired. 
    Any such stipulations can't override the law.  So if the stipulation is that the person gets paid $x for those off-duty calls, that is fine as long as it is at least their hourly rate. EG: You don't have to pay them a minimum hour, per call.  You can pay them at their regular rate for the actual time of the call.

    But if the expectation is the person doesn't get paid, that would be illegal.  (Of course the expectations for an exempt employee such as a manager or supervisor or different, and I'm talking hourly employees.)

      April 18, 2019 8:52 AM MDT
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  • People just stopping by without calling to say high while they are in the neighborhood
      April 18, 2019 6:08 AM MDT
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  • 6023
    Superman changing in a phone booth.   

    Morse Code operators on ships.

    Telegrams
      April 18, 2019 8:14 AM MDT
    3

  • Home alone movie could never have happened. That kid would have just Snapchat or whatsapped his mom before the flight took off. 
      April 18, 2019 8:42 AM MDT
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  • 53048

      And we’d all have a better world if that entire movie franchise had never existed!
    ~
      April 18, 2019 8:45 AM MDT
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  • NO RANDY! I loved that movie when I was a kid. 
      April 18, 2019 9:00 AM MDT
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  • 17492
    someone leaning against a payphone waiting for it to ring

    people playing with the curly cord while talking
      April 18, 2019 8:01 PM MDT
    1