Is It Time To Commit To Ongoing Payphone Availability?
Public payphones seem headed the way of the dinosaur, as noted here on Slashdot 10 years ago, and again by the CBC earlier this year. Reasons typically cited for their demise are falling usage, (thanks to the ubiquitous cell phone), and rising maintenance costs. But during the recent disaster in NYC caused by Hurricane Sandy public payphones proved their worth…
“Alan Wolfson is a master of the miniature. His urban sculptures are tiny, incredibly detailed views of the mundane city landmarks that urban citizens interact with on a daily basis…”
These models include phone boxes (of course).
Click here for ‘tiny streets’.
Alan Wolfson miniatures
Giant Touchscreens Coming To NYC Phone Booths
The public pay phone of the future looks like a gigantic iPad. The city plans to unveil 32-inch “smart screens” with Internet connections next month inside 250 old phone booths throughout the five boroughs…
Some more from the USA, but this time going back even longer to when I was using film. Note the last one, starring Neil Van Vuuren, and with Gillian Anderson on the side of the box!
Albuquerque
East Village, New York
New York
New York
Some from our trip to the USA, which was ages ago…
Hawaii
Hawaii
Hornitos
Mariposa
Rhyolite
My first reader’s contribution. Thanks Ian.
“Here is my picture of a San Francisco phone booth! While walking by I found it strangely compelling – with it’s shiny case and slot for quarters, so I took a pic. I had just seen the movie “Bullitt”, with Steve McQueen, where the hero makes many phone calls in exactly this type of phone booth…This particular phone was located in the Serramonte Shopping Mall, Daly City, South San Francisco on 28th Dec 2010. I was out shopping for lego :-)”
Ian Castleton
Haight Ashbury
By the Port
The Loop
Lincoln Park Conservatory
I was watching a movie on tv the other night and one of the characters got on the Loop at the same spot where I took the top photo. (Kind of sad that I notice these things.)
Yosemite
Yosemite
We visited Yosemite in May 2007. While taking the top photo I heard an American woman behind me say “I guess they don’t have phones where they are from.” Hysterical stuff.
Freestyle Music Park, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
“This completely fabulous Stonehenge replica, playfully named Phonehenge, sits in the Freestyle Music Park (formerly the Hard Rock Park) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It surrounds a large performance space in the British Invasion section of the park and is comprised of lots of red old-style British telephone boxes” (http://weburbanist.com/2009/09/03/clonehenges-20-creative-recreations-of-stonehenge/)