ass prunes, apps and analogue freedom

the best approach to digital detox

I thought life was supposed to be getting easier.

I mean all of this technology was supposed to free us in order to do more with increased convenience.

Recently, I stumbled upon not just a single relic of another era, but an entire bank of relics.

That’s right. I found myself facing a bank of pay phones.

I was shocked to discover that local calls no longer cost a quarter nor a dime.

Instead?

They required a full fifty cents in order to be operated.

Subsequently, what kind of nutty business model did these pay phones operate under? It used to cost a dime or a quarter to make a phone call. That’s fine, but then?

Someone would have to collect, sort and count all of those dimes.

That seems like a whole lotta squeeze for a little sip of juice.

Back in University, we learned that you didn’t even need to pay to talk on these phones. You could call them if you knew the number. I’d regularly phone the Dal Arts centre - just to see who was around and have a chat with whom ever happened to answer.

In those…