When phone books first came out, wealthy people were appalled that simply ANYONE with a phone could just call them. They had spent years building barriers that prevented you from speaking to them in other ways, and now it was in tatters.
Not entirely in tatters. It was entirely possible to have your phone number unpublished. It cost an extra fee, but compared to the basic phone bill, that was a pittance.
Now, the phone companies--landline, cell, and cable alike--don't even know what "unpublished" is. All they have is "Caller ID" blocked.
My father, in addition to his volunteer firefighting efforts, his youth spent working at my granfather's service station, and his career in the US Army as a drill instructor during the Vietnam Conflict, also worked for a long time for the phone company. Originally this was AT&T, which was broken up by the government so he worked for a series of what were called 'Baby Bells' before they reconstituted as AT&T many years later. I think it's now broken up again, this time due to economic forces rather than government action.
He started working on lines between powerpoles, but at some point he was working on the Yellow Pages. That used to be a huge business. Many companies that date to that era have names like "Acme Auto Parts" or "AAA Pest Control" just as an attempt to be listed first in the Yellow Pages, because being at the top of the list meant you got lots of extra calls for business.
Aardvark Automotive is still around here, although I suspect fewer and fewer people know why it has a funny name. (And a cute logo - a low-slung aardvark with racing wheels instead of legs.)
She's got a point that being overly obsessive about PERSEC is silly- but I also keep this in mind- No one want's my data *yet*. They might later for various reasons... I especially tell my kids that, but I suspect it's not enough of a deterrent...
5 comments:
When phone books first came out, wealthy people were appalled that simply ANYONE with a phone could just call them. They had spent years building barriers that prevented you from speaking to them in other ways, and now it was in tatters.
Not entirely in tatters. It was entirely possible to have your phone number unpublished. It cost an extra fee, but compared to the basic phone bill, that was a pittance.
Now, the phone companies--landline, cell, and cable alike--don't even know what "unpublished" is. All they have is "Caller ID" blocked.
Eric Hines
My father, in addition to his volunteer firefighting efforts, his youth spent working at my granfather's service station, and his career in the US Army as a drill instructor during the Vietnam Conflict, also worked for a long time for the phone company. Originally this was AT&T, which was broken up by the government so he worked for a series of what were called 'Baby Bells' before they reconstituted as AT&T many years later. I think it's now broken up again, this time due to economic forces rather than government action.
He started working on lines between powerpoles, but at some point he was working on the Yellow Pages. That used to be a huge business. Many companies that date to that era have names like "Acme Auto Parts" or "AAA Pest Control" just as an attempt to be listed first in the Yellow Pages, because being at the top of the list meant you got lots of extra calls for business.
It's amazing to think that's all gone.
Aardvark Automotive is still around here, although I suspect fewer and fewer people know why it has a funny name. (And a cute logo - a low-slung aardvark with racing wheels instead of legs.)
LittleRed1
She's got a point that being overly obsessive about PERSEC is silly- but I also keep this in mind- No one want's my data *yet*. They might later for various reasons... I especially tell my kids that, but I suspect it's not enough of a deterrent...
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