Prehistoric times

This weekend, while traveling via rail to see family, I once again thought of something I've often wondered in the last few years: How did people ever socialize successfully before cell phones? I - and most people I know - completely depend on mobile phones these days. This weekend, my wife and I used our phones to coordinate being picked-up at our destination at the right time. We used them to get in touch with a number friends who we weren't sure would be in the same area we'd be in at the same time. Friday afternoon, I used my phone to quickly 3-way conference co-workers to make sure an issue was settled before the weekend. And all things considered, we (my wife and I) are probably light on our phone usage compared to many of our peers.

Look around any city street, or the waiting room of any train or bus station, and probably half the people you'll see will be dialing, talking, or receiving calls on their mobile phones. In New York City, it's unusual for your cabbie not to be talking on his hands-free when you get in the cab. And on any Friday or Saturday night, American cities are teeming with people furiously playing games of walkie-talkie with their friends, trying to determine which movie to see, what bar to meet at, and at whose apartment to rendezvous beforehand. How did we all manage to meet up and socialize in the days before mobile phones became ubiquitous? I'm too young to really remember, unless high school is my guide, in which case the answer is that everyone in those days before mobile phones just knew to meet up and hang out at Bickfords until the night shift kicked us out.

According to the US Census Bureau, there were 5 million mobile phone subscribers in the US in 1990, and 110 million in 2000. When we look back, the revolution in wireless phones will appear to have had as much, if not more impact on how we live and work than the Internet. (And that's coming from a guy who works on the Internet for a living).

If my Dad were writing this, now would be when he'd chime in to tell us that he remembers having to speak with operators on the other end of the line in order to make a call, and that sometimes the operators had no idea how to get your call through. It was just like those old movies with dozens of uniformed women frantically running the switchboards, but apparently not as efficient. On the other hand, I can't remember for the life of me when I last spoke with an operator, for any reason.