Ma Bell

[w1guh]

BTW, is your "CWA" the Communications Workers of America?

It could be any number of acronyms. However, I never use the one you mentioned.
Some Common ones:
Clean Water Act
Concerned Women for America
Communications Workers of America
Closed World Assumption
Civil Works Administration
California Waterfowl Association
Contract With America
County Warning Area
Clean Water Action
CEN Workshop Agreement
Country Women's Association
Chemical Warfare Agents
Championship Wrestling Association
Constant Wattage Autotransformer
Construction Writers Association
Catch Wrestling Association
Center Weather Advisory
Czech Wrestling Association
California Workforce Association
Common Work Area
Canadian Welding Association
Central Water Authority
Charlotte Woodworkers Association
Crackers With Attitude
County Welfare Agency
Customer Web Access
Cat Writers' Association
Cape Wind Associates
Contract Work Authorization
Clean Work Area
Caution Warning Advisory
Central Wisconsin Airport
Controlled Work Area
California Warehouse Association
Caribou Woodlot Association
Coordinator of Welfare and Attendance
Cadet Wing Adjutant
Cold Wall Abated
California Warehousing Associates
Caution and Warning Annunciation

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Crackers With Attitude

Sounds like a new Country/Rap group...

Yeeeeeee-Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, mo-fo!

Backstreet Boys

[John Holotko]

Here's a snipet off the web from 4 years ago on the 20 year anniversary of the Bell System breakup:

"It was 20 years ago that AT&T, the once-mighty "Ma Bell," was broken up on the order of Judge Harold H. Greene of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Since the break-up, consumers have had a staggering array of choices for local and long-distance phone service, they've been able to buy their own telephones, hook up fax machines, modems and other devices and they've been presented with a multitude of new services, including cellular service, DSL and even Internet and cable-based telephony.

All this choice is no doubt what Judge Greene, who died four years ago, would have wanted. His ruling, after all, was based on a finding that AT&T had such a stranglehold on all aspects of the telephone business that newcomers like MCI weren't able to compete on a "level playing field," a phrase that has since become a standard verse in every lobbyists' litany."

Without the breakup, anything you would have wanted hooked to the line would require permission, approval, and monthly pay-back to AT&T.

Actually I would prefer it that  way. I would like to pay for every phone, fax, and modem that I attach to the system.Hey look, its their system.If I want to use it then they have every right to charge me extra for whatever I attach.

[John Holotko]

Steve -

The time frame was about '61, 62 before touch-tone.  But I think I've heard about the hybrid before.  The thing that confuses me about that is that you could take just a handset and put in on the line and it would work.   

Pete -

It's cool that there's still research going on, but is it the kind that will lead to a transistor, or unix, or the C language, or the background radiation from the big bang?  It's my impression that that kind of pure research isn't happening.  Or am I wrong?

They are still doing some interesting stuff at Bell labs (Lucent). Check the research and resources on

http://www.bell-labs.com

I think theres some info on past, present stuff going on there.

[flintstone mop]

Yup
I remember the handset trick. If you were good you could tap out the telephone number, by "grounding out" the line.  
How about the pay phone? There was a time that you could unscrew the mouthpiece and "ground" the connector and you could get a free call............haaa haaaa.
NOW I know why people calling me on a cellphone are blasting out my ears. THERE'S NO SIDETONE on a CELLULAR PHOME, so they are talking in a loud voice.
Fred

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Bell Labs first mobile radio telephone in 1924:

[w1guh]

Something I noticed about phone calls lately, a lot of calls, especially telephone support services, e.g. Dell Computer, have way too little audio.  I have to listen very hard to hear what they're saying.  Sometimes I have to ask them to speak up and that helps for about two seconds, then I straining to hear again.  It's bad enough when you have to talk to India and have an accent problem without having to deal with an inferior technical system.  Grrrrr 

[John Holotko]

Something I noticed about phone calls lately, a lot of calls, especially telephone support services, e.g. Dell Computer, have way too little audio.  I have to listen very hard to hear what they're saying.  Sometimes I have to ask them to speak up and that helps for about two seconds, then I straining to hear again.  It's bad enough when you have to talk to India and have an accent problem without having to deal with an inferior technical system.  Grrrrr 

Not to mention you have to go threough the whole intro and review of your personal information, etc, etc,etc. each and every time you call in,

I am not happy with Dell despite the fact that I own three of their machines at home. While their prices on consumer oriented machines is not bad their motherboard tend to be low end and lacking features.  Also, many of their add-on's, i,.e sound cards, video cards are OEM versions made specifically for dell and that can be probematic when trying to match up drivers, etc.

[w1guh]

Something I noticed about phone calls lately, a lot of calls, especially telephone support services, e.g. Dell Computer, have way too little audio.  I have to listen very hard to hear what they're saying.  Sometimes I have to ask them to speak up and that helps for about two seconds, then I straining to hear again.  It's bad enough when you have to talk to India and have an accent problem without having to deal with an inferior technical system.  Grrrrr 

Not to mention you have to go threough the whole intro and review of your personal information, etc, etc,etc. each and every time you call in,

I am not happy with Dell despite the fact that I own three of their machines at home. While their prices on consumer oriented machines is not bad their motherboard tend to be low end and lacking features.  Also, many of their add-on's, i,.e sound cards, video cards are OEM versions made specifically for dell and that can be probematic when trying to match up drivers, etc.

And something I noticed lately.  It's time to upgrade my laptop if  I want to play the latest games, so I priced gaming laptops (>2Ghz, 256M current video) and at first glance Dell is about a grand higher than HP or Sony.  Granted, their service is top-notch, but I'm not sure it's worth an extra kilo-buck