Reflections on AT&T's shuttering of the time service
The LA Times has a sweet and sorrowful little piece on AT&T's discontinuation of its automated speaking clock time service, with melancholy interviews with the old maintenance staff for the lumbering, crumbling "time machine" hardware.
"It was always there," said Orlo Brown, 70, who for many years kept Pacific Bell's (and subsequently SBC's) time machines running in a downtown Los Angeles office building. "Everybody knew the number."Link (via JWZ)Richard Frenkiel was assigned to work on the time machines when he joined Bell Labs in the early 1960s. He described the devices as large drums about 2 feet in diameter, with as many as 100 album-like audio tracks on the exterior. Whenever someone called time, the drums would start turning and a message would begin, with different tracks mixed together on the fly.
"The people who worked on it took it very seriously," Frenkiel, 64, recalled. "They took a lot of pride in it."
In a twist of historical irony, Frenkiel went on to play a leading role in development of the technology that makes cellphones possible -- the very device that's now instrumental in killing time.
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Too much water in the Americano...a common mistake.
Wow. I haven't use "popcorn" (that's how we dialed in my Mom's house) for years. I never thought this would go away, though, even though with the advent of cellphones and the intertubes everyone is synched to the same atomic clock somewhere in Boreneo.
Which bothers me, actually. I don't like the idea that you can't fudge what time it is with other people anymore. Some take sadistic pride in knowing that you're one minute late. (Don't pshaw me on this one, I've worked for some real jerks).
In the past you could always say "I've got 7:56."
But not anymore. Now we're all on the same clock... and it creeps me out.
At least back in the day, you had t make a concious effort to be on "popcorn" time.
At the sound of the tone the time will be... 7... 30.. and 20 ... and 50 seconds ..................
........... beep.
This is truly sad.
Even though I haven't used the service in quite a while, when I read this blurb I realized there was always a certain subtle comfort/stability in my life, knowing I could always call the PopCorn Lady and get the time - she was always there for me. Now, I had an inexplicable sense of impending loss, of a void in my life.
So I called up the "popcorn" lady, just to say goodbye, to hear her oh-so-perfect always cheerful voice one last time. And maybe also just to apologize for my neglect these past few years.
And just as if I had never left her, she faithfully greeted me ("good afternoon") and told me the exact time (Pacific Standard Time), over and over again, always at the tone, always perfectly enunciated, steady and cheerful, with no hint of hurt or anger. It was clear, all was forgiven by the PopCorn Lady, she was just happy to hear from me. What a saint. Brought tears to my eyes . . .
I'll miss you, PopCorn Time Lady. I feel like I'm losing a friend I now realize I should have spent more time with. Sniff . . .
The atomic clock in colorado is still operational for your timely needs. (Pun intended.)
303-499-7111
I will never forget that number. When I was a kid I used to call it once a month and reset all of the clocks in the house to be completely accurate.
iirc, it was 853-1212* back in LA during the pac bell days (wow that was 20 years ago)...it's the end of an era!
(i once heard 853+ any 4 would work, too?)
The British equivalent - the speaking clock, or Tim - is still going. There's a good history, with pictures, at http://web.ukonline.co.uk/freshwater/clocks/spkgclock.htm
What that doesn't say is that the network which delivered the time to various parts of the telephone system was also part of the civil defence communications system. It could be taken over to link HQs, bunkers and regional control centres; once a month at a certain time, the third 'pip' which marked the exact time changed frequency, and that triggered the test equipment which checked the secret network.
With the end of the cold war (and I daresay the evolution of different communications), that role and the old radio systems that once blanketed the country were retired. Now, if you know where to look online, you can find these documented in amazing detail.
See this link when the British Post Office time service ended:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5208136.stm
@LUNGTA99 - The British speaking clock hasn't ended, it is still going strong (according to the article you linked to, used 70 million times a year). BT have promoted it in recent times by using celebrity voices for special charity events, and holding a competition to select a new voice.
It should be relatively easy to bring this up to date with a VOIP connection, a voice sample and a connection to a time server.
Not sure what lungta99 means, but the Speaking Clock is still available in the UK on 123. This is even stated in the article that he links to (written to mark its 70th birthday last year), and it says the service receives 70 million calls a year.
There's a great online collection of recordings by Jane Barbe, who's mentioned in the LA Times article:
http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/misc/
Why in the world would SBC, aka AT+T, aka Who-Knows-Next?, do this?
Although the 'hardware (may be) difficult to maintain,' surely we all know that in an afternoon a high school kid could create a digital analogue. If a high school kid can remove the marketing limitations imposed on the technological prowess of the iPhone, surely this would be trivial.
[In fact, will somebody please make a high-quality recording of TIME and do exactly that.]
POPCORN is, of course, 737-any-four-digits-you-like. I often used 737-1212, for no particular reason.
737 is one block of 10,000 numbers in every Area Code. If there's any rationale to do this, it may be to re-use those 10,000 numbers.
This a reduction of services, nostalgic or otherwise. Will TPC please reduce my phone bill by a nickel?
San Franciscan
I just dialed 323-853-1212 and got "Good Evening, Pacific Daylight time is 10 ... 58 ... and 20 seconds.
It's had the "Good Evening" for several years now, but has worked (surprisingly.)
When I grew up and lived in LA it was 853-xxxx any number from any area code in LA. That worked until about 1998 when they changed it to only the 323 area code. Before that, they tried several 976 services with the time (976-TIME for one,) and they were popular for a while, but I think got caught up in the 976-900 number evildom.
The "Good Evening" and "Pacific xxx time" was added sometime after 2000, but I don't remember when.
I still use it to check and make sure my cellphone has the correct time. It may be better now, but my phone was up to 35 seconds off in changing minutes in the past.
Anytime I set a clock I still call that number. It's easier than going on the internet to get the seconds.
If it goes away, I will be sad.
I used to call the "speaking clock" in England every now and then for fun (and when I worked for a company with a leased voice line there it was free,) but I may just add international dialing to my plan . . .