Comments (scroll down to add your own):

1. The last time that I used a pay phone was in April of this year.

   They are handy to have available.

   Comment by Blaine Moore — Jul 5th 2007 @ 8:36 am

2. There are many times when I would have used a pay phone, but whenever I need one they are never around. I haven’t SEEN a pay phone in years. They were getting pretty expensive, too.

   Comment by Chris — Jul 5th 2007 @ 9:54 am

3. In the last 3 months, in my town (5k people) I have seen 5 installed at various gas stations/stores.

   I’m glad too. I have never owned a cell phone and plan never to. I rank them with car payments and goats as money pits. But that is my opinion.

   Comment by saladdin — Jul 5th 2007 @ 9:54 am

4. I can’t imagine using the pay phone anymore. Just like the VCR, they are going away quickly.

   Comment by Hustler — Jul 5th 2007 @ 1:08 pm

5. I am surprised that there are even that many left. I wonder what state has the largest concentration of pay phones?

   Comment by rocketc — Jul 5th 2007 @ 3:43 pm

6. I do use them in Europe. The roaming charges are pretty expensive and so are the phones in the hotels. But with pre-paid cards they sell, you can call the US for pennies a minute.

   Comment by kitty — Jul 5th 2007 @ 3:59 pm

7. I can totally believe it. And, most of the (very few) ones I have seen recently have been out of order.

   Comment by bluntmoney — Jul 5th 2007 @ 6:53 pm

8. As an employee of a huge telecom company, I’ve seen the fluctuation of pay phone usage. Obviously the number of pay phones is decreasing. Did you know that the FCC mandates a minimum number of pay phones (2) for each serving office? Pretty easy to do, even though they are not profitable. Many pay phones disappeared due to theft (people stealing the copper wires, aluminum sides, etc.). I actually own an older payphone booth with wood sides. The other technology that is diminishing is pagers. Very few people have them any more, as they too are being replaced by cell phones.

   Comment by PG — Jul 6th 2007 @ 9:57 am

9. I used pay phones quite a bit in highschool and college, having no other way to “phone home” (for rides when in HS, to check in with parents while in college). I got a cellphone about 4 years ago when I was almost done with college, I don’t think I’ve used a pay phone since.

   I think it’s a shame they’re disappearing, though. It’s making it nearly impossible for teenagers to phone home unless their parents shell out for a cell phone.

   Comment by Anitra — Jul 6th 2007 @ 11:09 am

10. If you don’t have a wireless, there is always someone around who will let you use their phone. The problem is, no one memorizes phone numbers anymore – they are all programmed into the phones.

    Comment by rocketc — Jul 6th 2007 @ 4:42 pm

11. In the mid-80s, my folks didn’t have a home phone, they just used the pay-phone across the street, if anyone wanted to get in touch, they knew to call between a certain time period when they would be at the pay phone.

    Ahh…progress.

    On a related note, pagers are disappearing in hospitals too, cell phones or an in-hospital voice-paging system (vocera.)

    What ever happened to the good old days? (”Paging Doctor Johnson, Doctor Johnson, please contact the Pathology Lab.”

    Comment by Jesse — Jul 7th 2007 @ 1:18 am

12. Your parents using the pay phone across the street ranks with the 60’s sitcom Green Acres where Oliver had to climb the telephone pole to answer the phone. One of my favorite parts of the show.

    Comment by Dan — Jul 7th 2007 @ 9:31 am

13. I cant imagine anyone using pay phones now days with the high cell phone usage going on

    Comment by creditnine.com — Jul 8th 2007 @ 2:06 pm

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