VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Mike Harrison]

First, we saw ISDN support go bye-bye. And I knew Verizon was just waiting for a reason not to support other copper services, like our trusty landlines. Landlines are still quite valuable because, unless utility poles or other equipment is damaged, landline phones will still work even if the power goes out. A friend who several years ago had Verizon FiOS installed said the tech recommended he keep his landline service and a traditional phone because FiOS, too – just like cell phone service – may not remain working during power outages.

But, after Hurricane Sandy damaged copper facilities in parts of the NJ shore, for example, Verizon is refusing to restore the service. Unfortunately, for some people – like a Mantoloking NJ customer whose Pacemaker requires a monthly checkup via landline phone – they have no recourse. And as weather and other incidents continue to impact copper technology, more customers will see it disappear.

http://www.today.com/money/disconnect-phone-companies-wont-replace-some-landlines-6C10574631

I happen to love my landline phone because I despise the quality of cellular. They're fine for making quick contact, but productivity takes a nosedive when half the call time is taken by asking the caller to repeat what was just said.

"Can you hear me now?" No. Click.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[Mandy Nelson]

This makes me sad. Not because of the change but because of the impact. I'm with you, Mike, on the phone quality. I've removed a heck of a lot of copper from this new house and it's just sitting under lock and key - too bad we can't swoop in for a vo-bb rescue of land lines.
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[vkuehn]

[ballenberg]

Totally agree. Cellphone call is like trying to have a conversation on a walkie-talkie (just in case I haven't yet dated myself enough). Seriously, the sound quality is marginal at its very best. Undoubtedly great tool for fast, timely messages..but to replace a "real" phone. Please, no.

[vkuehn]

I grew up on a farm in irrigated desert farm country in Texas. Phones didn't come to our cactus patch until almost 1950... and it was a doozy: 8 homes sharing an open-wire party-line.

Fast forward 20 years or so and Western Electric had made circuits including long distance SO GOOD that the engineers had to start feeding artificial noise into them because they were so quiet people were assuming they had lost connection (they were so used to hum and other noise) and so they were hanging up.

With the cell phone, I keep looking around for the rattle snakes, the doddle bugs, the tumble bugs and cactus. I must be back in Texas circa 1950.

Today so out-of-work WE engineer apparently sneaks into my studio now and then and introduces some of that artificial noise in my recording set-up. If I catch him... I will torture him... bore him to death with old time Texas stories!

[Drew]

Agreed. My home/studio is a cell dead zone. If I had a nickel for each time I said, "Let me call you back on my landline...", I'd be wealthy and wouldn't have to work for a living.
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[Mike Harrison]

Hey, thanks for the support.

vkuehn: I'm a big fan of (what was) Western Electric, Bell Labs and AT&T. They gave us not only the original telephone network, but contributed heavily to NASA, the military and the broadcasting industry.

As a matter of fact, today is the 51st anniversary of the launching of Telstar I, the first satellite to transmit television pictures around the world, designed and built here, in NJ, by Bell Labs and owned by AT&T.

Back to cellular, we occasionally hear of citizens protesting the proposed erecting of a cell phone tower in their area, saying: "We don't want that ugly thing anywhere nearby," or "it's going to expose our children to radiation," or any number of things.

But I wonder who will be the first to complain when they can't get a decent cell signal?
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[Bish]

Being in NY and having been hit quite hard by Sandy... I must say that I'm really happy that the Verizon distribution (from the local network access point to my house) is underground. This lack of copper support is worrying because it is premature with many issues unresolved. My ISDN service, while important to me, is maybe insignificant compared with the legacy medical monitoring systems out there. Thanks for pointing it out.

... to riff a little on the "bad quality cellphone" turn this thread has taken... I have a Google Voice number connected via an Obihai box. Google voice is set up to ring both my GV number and my mobile. So if I'm in my studio, I can pick-up on my regular phone connected to the Obihai VoIP service, or if out of the studio, on the cellpone. The VoIP service has proved to have the quality of a land line. It's a great solution allowing for only a single number to be published, but maintain land-line quality and cellphone mobility.
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[ccpetersen]

Mike, we have that NIMBY attitude where I live, and the cellular companies are using it as an excuse not to have towers or service extended in an area that is devoid of service due to topography. It seems that the "safety" they always trumpet as a good reason for cellular service everywhere doesn't trump other things. They collect these "rural service fees" and use them to build out service in already over-serviced areas, while those of us in rural areas get bupkiss. It's really getting old.
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