Lamenting the Demise of Hangups 215
An anonymous reader writes "Ian Bogost writes about a cultural tradition we've mostly lost as smartphones have become ubiquitous: hanging up. While we still use the terminology (in the same way we say 'rewind' when skipping backward on our DVR), the physical act of hanging up a telephone when we're done using it no longer occurs. And we don't get that satisfying crash and clatter when hanging up on somebody to make a point. 'In the context of such gravity, the hangup had a clear and forceful meaning. It offered a way of ending a conversation prematurely, sternly, aggressively. Without saying anything, the hangup said something: we're done, go away. ... Today a true hangup — one you really meant to perform out of anger or frustration or exhaustion — is only temporary and one-sided even when it is successfully executed. Even during a heated exchange, your interlocutor will first assume something went wrong in the network, and you could easily pretend such a thing was true later if you wanted. Calls aren't ever really under our control anymore, they "drop" intransitively.' It's an interesting point about the minor cultural changes that go along with evolving technology."
I miss the hang up... (Score:5, Interesting)
...about as much as I miss putting a new roll in the fax machine. i.e. not at all.
But then again I bet if you look hard enough you'll find an old fart who thinks that VHS tapes are superior to Bluray.
Re:They beauty of smart phones (Score:3, Interesting)
You know, people could just grow a pair and yell, "You know what? FUCKKKKK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" into the phone before 'hanging up'. I'm pretty sure the message would be conveyed.
Also: I'm a fan of the "fuck this shitbrain, I'm putting it on mute and setting it on my desk while I do something important," dis. Then they have to hang up: I care just enough to show them that I don't value their time, and will denigrate them by making them hang up on me.
Re:Forget the hangup.... I'm missing (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm sure mean "when you had AT&T since the breakup of their monopoly", not "AT&T back when they provided analog phones and had the US telephone monopoly".
Earlier in my electrical engineering experience, I actually reconnected 50 and 60 year old phones in old houses to active, analog, land-line circuits from almost any decade between 1920 and 1980, and it _all worked_, including the older phones that were wired directly to wiring jacks inside of wall plates, and lacked modern RJ-11 wiring connectors. (The 1900 era phone took some extra work.) Many, if not most, of those old phones frankly had better sound quality than the modern consumer grade phones. And because the entire setup was analog, they filtered but still carried some small amount of higher frequency signals that modern digital phones _cannot_ carry, particularly useful for sharp sounds that digital analysis and remixing smear. A "bang" or "clatter" including that of hanging up the phone, was much more clear.
There are some very real advantages of modern digital systems, such as more reliable transmission over long distances and easier central switching without mechanical relays. But the robustness of the equipment and overall quality of the equipment that AT&T was providing for consumer use was not one of the problems of older phones.