As of 2023, global smartphone users exceed 6 billion. Smartphones are the main device for news, thanks to affordability and internet access.
Anyone past 30 probably has virtually no idea what this is:
Our little town of Coronation had a chief of police and one day the inmates locked him in their cell and he could not reach the phone.
People suggested that he leave his phone in the cell. That is where the term “cell phone” came from.
If you believe that then you might want to buy some magic beans that a guy named Jack gave me.
We had a different way of phoning in Coronation when I grew up there in the 1950s
Our phone number was 51. That’s right, five-one. No area code. No dialing. You rang the the phone by rotating a crank, just like rolling down a window in car.
People in the same part of town shared their line with neighbors who were not supposed to listen in. But everyone did. There were few secrets.
This arrangement was known as a party line. Sometimes the party became a bit roudy.
Check this out … another town in Alberta was Didsbury. And there’s more information here on party lines.
