August 14, 2005
Public Telephones Get the Call in South Korea
Technical progress creates a multitude of new things, but it also makes many old things obsolete, reports The Korea Times.
"It seems that yet another item is doomed now: the good old public phone. The advent of mobile communications is making it obsolete, even if the public phones are still very easy to spot in Korea. But there are telltale signs of their decline.
Merely five years ago one often had to wait in front of the phone for quite a long time. These days, the rows of phone booths are always empty.
There is another problem, too - a faulty public phone. Once a rarity, broken public phones have become a common problem in Korea. Obviously, it does not make much economic sense to keep all phones in good working order.
... Does this mean that public phones are doomed? In all probability, the answer is “yes,” even if a handful of public phones will likely linger for a decade or two in hotel lobbies or in bus terminals. The public phone will probably share the fate of telegraph and coal-filled irons. "
Related stories from around the world:
-- Slow demise of a very British icon
-- Korea. Mobile Phones Drive Out Street Phone Booths
-- Belgium to dismantle 4,000 phone booths
-- Phone booths in England losing their popularity
And something to keep in mind, following the London terrorist attacks:
Mobiles seem particularly vulnerable to crashing during crisis. The networks are also liable to be shut down to forestall the possibility of mobiles being used as bomb-triggering devices..
The London authorities, after the attacks on New York and Madrid, made commendable preparations for the inevitable attack. But, oddly, they seem not to have given any thought to keeping in working order the most reliable public-emergency communication we have.
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