The Northwest Voice

On Oct. 19, I dialed up "popcorn" on the telephone for the correct time.

What a let-down to hear the operator say "As of Oct. 19, that number is no longer available!" This was the service for "exact time" since the 1920s.

And that was a real person, not a space-age machine that read the exact time, every ten seconds. Only available in Nevada and California, Joanne Daniels was the voice for 25 years.

But equipment installed in the 1960s is failing and there are no replacements.

By stopping this service, 300,000 new phone numbers will be freed for use.

Which brings up the next question: How long will telephones as we know them continue to exist?

Telephones, as we know them, are rapidly on the decline across America. Fewer and fewer installations as people are using cell phones.

Personally, I'll miss dialing "The time is now..."