National Telephone Day

Today is National Telephone Day. Talking to high school students today they have a hard time understanding how someone could grow up without a cell phone! When I was growing up we thought it was great to have a phone at all, and it was a party line. Yes, we shared a telephone line with a number of neighbors!

When the phone rang you paid attention to the ring. For example 3 long rings told us someone was calling us. A long, short and long was one neighbor's, 3 short rings was another and so on. Plus, when you wanted to call someone, you had to be quiet because one of your neighbors  may be already using the line. If the line was being used you checked again in a few minutes.

Today we all have cell phones with our own phone number.  We can send text messages with pictures and get on the internet. I can keep tract of the temperature of the house and well house at the farm. Livestock producers can monitor their buildings and livestock. In the fall you can see the moisture of the corn going into the dryer, the moisture of the corn coming out and adjust the dryer, all from your cell phone. I wonder what Alexander Graham Bell would think of his invention today?