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JokeRe: An, auf, hinter, ... Pin
0x01AA5-Jan-22 9:43
mve0x01AA5-Jan-22 9:43 
GeneralRe: An, auf, hinter, ... Pin
CodeWraith5-Jan-22 19:44
CodeWraith5-Jan-22 19:44 
GeneralRe: An, auf, hinter, ... Pin
Sander Rossel6-Jan-22 3:35
professionalSander Rossel6-Jan-22 3:35 
GeneralRe: An, auf, hinter, ... Pin
trønderen6-Jan-22 6:53
trønderen6-Jan-22 6:53 
GeneralRe: An, auf, hinter, ... Pin
Sander Rossel6-Jan-22 22:21
professionalSander Rossel6-Jan-22 22:21 
GeneralDeath of Blackberry Pin
michaelbarb5-Jan-22 8:28
michaelbarb5-Jan-22 8:28 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
Slacker0075-Jan-22 8:35
professionalSlacker0075-Jan-22 8:35 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
trønderen5-Jan-22 9:50
trønderen5-Jan-22 9:50 
A number of years ago, one newspaper was interviewing arbitrary people in the street, asking for their reactions to the plans to drop the telegram service. Almost all of those asked were infuriated: They can't do that! It is an essential service for lots of people! Remember all those telegrams we received when we married 25 years ago? And when we had our church confirmation. What about getting essential messages out to those who can't be reached on the phone? ...

"So, what do you think about the telegram service being closed down five years ago today? Have you missed it a lot?"

We have had a number of old services being closed down without anyone ever noticing. Telegram service was one of them. AM broadcasts was another. Telex was replaced by Teletext, telex dying without anyone noticing, and when it was revealed, lots of people insisted that Teletext had to be kept alive 'forever': The protocol ascerted non-repudiation and reliable, exact time stamps, essential to numerous business functions. Email has none of that reliability. Yet, Teletext was closed down with noone lifting an eyebrow.

Five years ago, Norway closed down all nation-wide FM broadcasts. This time, people revolted! There were numerous protest rallies, public meetings, there were several hundred debates in newspapers and other media, and at least two books published. Lots of the arguments referred to radio offerings that hadn't been heard for years, such as the detailed weather forecasts for the fishing banks or the daily time signal for setting your clocks right.

The FM closedown started five years ago, and carried out region by region over a period of ten months. Then everything calmed down. None of the forewarned catastrophes did occur. Everybody who needed exact weather forecasts had been listening to the digital weather channel for years. Clocks were kept in synch. The authorities managed to broadcast essential messaged to the population even through the digital radio. The civil defense warning sirens that used to be controlled through signals on a subcarrier in the FM signal worked practically flawlessly when the signaling was moved to the TETRA network of the emergency services. Today, those who do not listen to digital radio very rarely listen to the community radios still broadcasting on FM. The handful FM activists of 6-7-8 years ago that still preach the blessing of analog technology are viewed sort of like those still trying to live by the hippie ideals of the 1970s.

I never learned to shoe a horse, or milk a cow, use a crank to get my car running, or clean a kerosene lamp. I may have missed out on something valuable. Yet, I have enough of memories of old technologies, now abandoned, that could entertain grandchildren for hours ... If they would care at all about "old days". That's another thing that has been left behind: Nowadays, the past has next to zero value. They say that nostalgia isn't what it used to be, and that is certainly true.
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
Mircea Neacsu5-Jan-22 10:44
Mircea Neacsu5-Jan-22 10:44 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
j snooze5-Jan-22 11:33
j snooze5-Jan-22 11:33 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
trønderen5-Jan-22 12:13
trønderen5-Jan-22 12:13 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
Mircea Neacsu5-Jan-22 12:38
Mircea Neacsu5-Jan-22 12:38 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
Peter_in_27805-Jan-22 13:30
professionalPeter_in_27805-Jan-22 13:30 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
Mircea Neacsu5-Jan-22 13:55
Mircea Neacsu5-Jan-22 13:55 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
Daniel Pfeffer5-Jan-22 22:46
professionalDaniel Pfeffer5-Jan-22 22:46 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
Vikram A Punathambekar6-Jan-22 0:26
Vikram A Punathambekar6-Jan-22 0:26 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
trønderen6-Jan-22 2:35
trønderen6-Jan-22 2:35 
GeneralRe: Death of Blackberry Pin
dandy725-Jan-22 10:20
dandy725-Jan-22 10:20 
QuestionOpinion Survey Pin
oofalladeez3435-Jan-22 5:39
professionaloofalladeez3435-Jan-22 5:39 
AnswerRe: Opinion Survey Pin
Gerry Schmitz5-Jan-22 5:46
mveGerry Schmitz5-Jan-22 5:46 
AnswerRe: Opinion Survey PinPopular
PIEBALDconsult5-Jan-22 5:52
mvePIEBALDconsult5-Jan-22 5:52 
AnswerRe: Opinion Survey PinPopular
OriginalGriff5-Jan-22 5:57
mveOriginalGriff5-Jan-22 5:57 
GeneralRe: Opinion Survey Pin
Sander Rossel6-Jan-22 3:38
professionalSander Rossel6-Jan-22 3:38 
AnswerRe: Opinion Survey PinPopular
Amarnath S5-Jan-22 6:11
professionalAmarnath S5-Jan-22 6:11 
GeneralRe: Opinion Survey Pin
jeron15-Jan-22 6:39
jeron15-Jan-22 6:39 

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