Bethlehem Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 I wonder if they will have less damaged phones as people can’t try to break into them for $$? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pelagic Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Or bash them as resentment for cutting a call short or not having money to redial. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STBG 2 Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 8 hours ago, Ernegirl said: We used to swap Irish and British 50 pence pieces on either side of the border. They were identical as far as the phone boxes were concerned. Feel a bit awful now. But that’s teenagers for you. If that was the worst thing you did as a teenager then you are looking good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaitForMe Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 I think its great. In terms of what is Telstra getting out of it... I'd say, maybe it does something with taxes or gov funding? If they are mostly used for free calls to emergency etc, plus the decrease in overall use of them, I'm sure they maintain them at a serious loss already. Actually, it might even be something as simple as having charged calls go through them creates a bunch of extra work for them which isn't offset by the call charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spidey_Senses Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 21 hours ago, Elfie34 said: also where are the phone boxes? i used to use them so often as a kid to call my mum to pick me up. i should find our local one and tell the kids in emergencies to go use the payphone... There is a map you can use to locate them, I tried and there are none within 4 suburbs from me showing up (Suburban Adelaide). I have seen some in Adelaide CBD. My kids saw one when we were on holiday in a country town. They were fascinated by it as they had never one before. We have not had a land line for 15+ years so I dont think they have ever seen a phone that isnt a mobile or a cordless hand set! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazycritter Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 1995 the year I moved out of home and onto residence for the course I was doing. The only way to call home was through a public phone or if home called the residences and then was put through. One person on res had a mobile phone or rather a brick and she was considered wealthy because of it. Lol. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bornagirl Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 20 hours ago, Ernegirl said: I used to love the random chats I had with directory enquiry operators, usually when I was drunk My mother was a telephonist - phenomenally lucky to get the job really given she went out to work at the height of the great depression in the early thirties. She told some entertaining tales. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou-bags Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 I was thinking about the last time I used one. It was about 10 years ago, in a tiny country town on my way to meet up with DH at a larger regional centre. Pay phone at a road house. I was with Optus mobile and I had absolutely no coverage. But I needed to call DH to let him know that I’d taken a wrong turn and was now on the scenic route that would add an hour to my travel time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 2 hours ago, lazycritter said: 1995 the year I moved out of home and onto residence for the course I was doing. The only way to call home was through a public phone or if home called the residences and then was put through. One person on res had a mobile phone or rather a brick and she was considered wealthy because of it. Lol. Yeah remember what absolute wankers people with mobiles used to seem? In the 90's and early 2000's I mean. Remember the term yuppie? It used to be like look at this dickhead, who does he think is going to call him? And when I was in year 12 (2001) there were two or three people with mobiles and we used to laugh at them, like oh mummy needs to know where you are! Now I feel panicky if I forget to take it from the living room to the toilet with me 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 11 hours ago, WaitForMe said: I think its great. In terms of what is Telstra getting out of it... I'd say, maybe it does something with taxes or gov funding? If they are mostly used for free calls to emergency etc, plus the decrease in overall use of them, I'm sure they maintain them at a serious loss already. Actually, it might even be something as simple as having charged calls go through them creates a bunch of extra work for them which isn't offset by the call charges. I reckon the actual money is worth SFA to them, and the repair costs where some dickhead damages it to steal the coins would be huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pelagic Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 Also, who has change now? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STBG 2 Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Lou-bags said: I was thinking about the last time I used one. It was about 10 years ago, in a tiny country town on my way to meet up with DH at a larger regional centre. Pay phone at a road house. I was with Optus mobile and I had absolutely no coverage. But I needed to call DH to let him know that I’d taken a wrong turn and was now on the scenic route that would add an hour to my travel time. There is still a phone box outside the PO in a remote Mallee town where relatives have lived but there is no phone in there. just the box and a shelf. People still go in there because it is actually now somewhere where very strangely Optus internet connects, other than there it is on top of a very large sand hill out of town. Telstra is good everywhere in town, just not Optus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazycritter Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Lurker said: Yeah remember what absolute wankers people with mobiles used to seem? In the 90's and early 2000's I mean. Remember the term yuppie? It used to be like look at this dickhead, who does he think is going to call him? And when I was in year 12 (2001) there were two or three people with mobiles and we used to laugh at them, like oh mummy needs to know where you are! Now I feel panicky if I forget to take it from the living room to the toilet with me I know right? I felt like one of the last people to get a mobile. Why on earth do we need to be attached constantly to a phone. 20 years later, now just today I just was in a panic as I ended up in a no reception area in and I urgently needed to call my next job to say I was going to be late because I was only given 30mins to get from one job to another! I guess people used to be ok with people being late? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BusbyWilkes Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 Just checked the map and we have 6 (non pay) phones within a couple of kms of our house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ana Beavenhauser Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 I had my daughter walk across the road to the bus stop where there is a pay phone and ring my mobile yesterday and whilst the call came through, the handset must be broken. She could hear me but I couldn't hear her. I could then save that number in my phone. Hopefully they do maintenance checks on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 11 minutes ago, lazycritter said: I know right? I felt like one of the last people to get a mobile. Why on earth do we need to be attached constantly to a phone. 20 years later, now just today I just was in a panic as I ended up in a no reception area in and I urgently needed to call my next job to say I was going to be late because I was only given 30mins to get from one job to another! I guess people used to be ok with people being late? Nah, we used to just be better organised. And probably more patient. It used to be "well I guess she's running 5 minutes late, oh well" and now it's "what the fuck, if she's late whey doesn't she call?!" 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaLittleEd Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 13 hours ago, Ana Beavenhauser said: I had my daughter walk across the road to the bus stop where there is a pay phone and ring my mobile yesterday and whilst the call came through, the handset must be broken. She could hear me but I couldn't hear her. I could then save that number in my phone. Hopefully they do maintenance checks on them. You can report payphone faults on the Telstra website. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DropBear Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 The Brighton ladies are using the payphones now too.. (Unsure how to link the video from FB) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenflea Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Jimmy Rees is hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeldazonk Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 I suspect the "why" is because (a) they don't get much $$ from the phones but loads from using them as advertising posts; and (b) it is really good press in a time when they need the PR/business. They have been promoting it as a way of helping DV victims and people in emergencies (like during the bushfires). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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