I was considering putting an end to this blog but on return from holiday I came across a new installment in my town of Gravesend. It’s shiny and new and I’ve taken it as a sign that I should stick with the blog. The new style (not a box as such) indicates a continuation in the provision of communication and health services. This model is supplied by New World Payphones. Unfortunately the touch screen didn’t work – maybe as it’s not fully connected yet? I hope this doesn’t become another example of the enshitification of life in general.
Posted onAugust 14, 2026|Comments Off on Australian mentions
photo: Benji Pledgersource: Channel 7 News FBF
I grew up in Brisbane and was very familiar with a night out in the city in 1984. I’ve included the post above as it makes me feel quite nostalgic. Thanks to Melissa and B. Power for the use of the image.
Here’s a story I have only just come across:
Free calls to Santa from payphones are a gift – and a reminder that public goods have a value beyond money
Cressida Gaukroger, Tue 23 Dec 2025, The Guardian.
In a world that seems increasingly keen to monetise every interaction we have with it, how nice it was to watch my daughter discover she could make a “call to Santa” from a public payphone … free of charge. I say “payphone”, but in Australia payphones are not in fact “pay” phones.
In 2021, Telstra, the now-privatised national telco, made all local and national calls from public phones free – as well as calls to Santa, which I guess count as “international”. To many of the country’s mobile-absorbed population, it may have appeared an irrelevant nod to a fading technology, like being given a typewriter or top hat. But this overlooks what an important public good communication infrastructure like this is.
Posted onMay 22, 2026|Comments Off on Out and about
I haven’t come across many phone boxes lately so just two locations this time.
Helsinki, Suomenlinnan sea fortHelsinki, Suomenlinnan sea fort
I spent a few days in Helsinki and Tallinn and this was the only phone box I came across. Both countries are strongly digitial orientated so that may explain it. This UNESCO island is a sea fort and the phone box was last used in the 1970s (I think).
Posted onDecember 13, 2025|Comments Off on Marrakesh Telecoms Museum
On our recent trip to Marrakesh we came across this small museum in the Medina. It’s near a nice park and worth a visit. Apopogises for the glare in the photos – there was a lot of glass about.
Visited the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London, yesterday. They’ve done a very cool thing with the phonebox at the front of the property – turned it into a greenhouse.
