Ma Bell's Grave Marker
Showing posts with label bell system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bell system. Show all posts
12/6/11
2/15/11
4/30/10
Wireline's Declining Market
End of the line...
CenturyTel recently announced it's acquisition of Qwest Communications to be rebranded as CenturyLink. CenturyTel is the descendant of an old Independent Telephone Company and Qwest, a Baby Bell, previously US WEST, which in turn was a descendant of Mountain Bell, Pacific Northwestern Bell, Malheur Bell and Northwest Bell. They operate on the Public Service Switched Network (PSTN) providing basic wireline service to residences and businesses based on a network model that dates back to the late 1940s. It is a declining market.
These are photographs of what has become of once was The Phone Company.
CenturyTel recently announced it's acquisition of Qwest Communications to be rebranded as CenturyLink. CenturyTel is the descendant of an old Independent Telephone Company and Qwest, a Baby Bell, previously US WEST, which in turn was a descendant of Mountain Bell, Pacific Northwestern Bell, Malheur Bell and Northwest Bell. They operate on the Public Service Switched Network (PSTN) providing basic wireline service to residences and businesses based on a network model that dates back to the late 1940s. It is a declining market.
These are photographs of what has become of once was The Phone Company.
4/8/10
In The Future: After Fifteen Minutes
You better know something...
Rant Starts Here:
When my career abruptly ended 10 years ago after almost 30 years of working for the same organization, it was the best thing that ever happened to me, although I only appreciated it to a small degree at the time. It wasn't known then, that it occurred at the beginning of one of the worst decades of American consumerism, celebrity worship and over-the-top-you-name-the-poison. Not to mention one of the worst historic acts of terrorism (September 11, 2001) also occurred at the beginning of the decade, which the American people just seemed to skip over. The lessons came much harder, faster and earlier to me than for most people, who are now feeling the effects of the worst recession since the last Great Depression in the '30s.
Those who have known me a long time will verify that I've been consistently saying since the middle of the '90s the following:
Nothing that has happened in the past three decades can be blamed on our leaders in business, religion, Congress or Administrations. The blame is laid squarely at the feet of the American people.
We have several generations with a large majority of people that have no idea what a bad time, era of difficulty or a period of deprivation of goods is like. They're spoiled clueless. To them it is more important to look good, feel good, have things and far worse, to collect people as objects to enhance their status, not valuable assets to enrich life. The car you drive is more important than having good character on a journey.
My concern for over a decade now, has not been how I or people of strong character I know, will handle tough times when they come along. We'll be fine and adjust. I weathered difficult financial circumstances in the late '60s, when I arrived in this country at 14 years old and had to start working right away. It wasn't horrible, we weren't poverty stricken, my family was rebuilding an exciting new life and reinventing ourselves in America. Rather, I'm more disturbed by how a lot of the population will react when they realize they're not entitled, no one owes them anything and what once came easily to them, is now difficult to obtain or impossible. I want to avoid them by all means.
It has seemed rather obvious to me that since the '93-'94 recession, consumption has been racheting up out of control with only one ultimate conclusion. Since the late '70s and even more so in the '80s, skills and knowledge have been deemphasized and we embraced what I refer to as the MBA Marketing Culture that has no respect for attention to detail. The Cult of Personality and selling image was more important than actually producing something and doing what you said you would do. "It is better to look good than to actually know and do something."
I refuse to participate in the negative of this Economic Crisis. Ninety percent of life is NOT just showing up and getting a pension, social security and health care benefits. I see a link between what is happening economically and the social values of the past few decades and I'm not sure there is a choice about a Second and Third Wave in this Great Recession. I'm not buying the Recovery Kool-Aid...we ain't seen nothin' yet. If you do not want to be responsible for yourself and anything you may have done in the past that is causing pain now, I can't be around that. On the other hand, if you made mistakes with debt, relationships, priorities, careers and own up to them and work to repair the damage and reinvent yourself, no one is more for you than I am. It is to everyone's advantage that responsible people get a break if they need one (public money giveaways are not a break).
Since the late '70's I've watched this country thin it's brains and culture out, aspire to less knowledge, become underachievers, more delusional and too comfortable. We have become infatuated with the idea that "everyone is a winner." As for me, since I can remember my desire has been to engage with people smarter and know more than I do because they envisage things I do not and I want to constantly, continually visualize and learn. That is my American Dream. I'm attracted to people who want to engage themselves to be better but I also realize that it's not for everyone.
What I have found, especially over these past 15 years, is a lot of people are too content at being complacent. I'm willing to throw lifelines to those who have the willingness to grasp and go higher and seek to rise above. To me giving collective power lifts to affirmatively raise the masses higher, which essentially dilutes the value, is a waste of time and resources. It might be a product of decades of my training people but I've discovered that many people tend to attain a comfort level of mediocrity and stay there. People, like water, seek their own level. It's foolish not to recognize that people have different IQ levels and abilities and there is nothing wrong with that, it's a product of nature and humanity. Not all people need a college degree or a high-paying job to be considered a success in life.
A successful life can mean many things and a lot of them have nothing to do with career, money, fame or appearance.
Back in my early Bell System days I worked for a Traffic Manager who probably had no idea that he would have a lifetime impact on me with a few simple, direct concepts. To him I was probably just another one of those hippie kids they forced the company to hire. He was definitely "old school", a product of a military stint and a cowboy from Arizona days of yore. He did watch over me though and gave me quite a few good rules on being a leader. If I was beginning to get a little slipshod he would strongly but not too sternly say: "Son, you need to get your papers in order." If I offered up excuses he responded: "Son, charm works for 15 minutes, after that you better know something."
Since my involuntary "separation" from my career I've experienced and learned a lot and fortunately am probably as prepared as anyone for what we are likely to see in this country. We're in a highly unusual period and looking at history, macro and micro, distant and recent, the world has been here many times before. It seems to me that in this Era of Great Disruption, you better know something.
End of Rant.
Rant Starts Here:
When my career abruptly ended 10 years ago after almost 30 years of working for the same organization, it was the best thing that ever happened to me, although I only appreciated it to a small degree at the time. It wasn't known then, that it occurred at the beginning of one of the worst decades of American consumerism, celebrity worship and over-the-top-you-name-the-poison. Not to mention one of the worst historic acts of terrorism (September 11, 2001) also occurred at the beginning of the decade, which the American people just seemed to skip over. The lessons came much harder, faster and earlier to me than for most people, who are now feeling the effects of the worst recession since the last Great Depression in the '30s.
Those who have known me a long time will verify that I've been consistently saying since the middle of the '90s the following:Nothing that has happened in the past three decades can be blamed on our leaders in business, religion, Congress or Administrations. The blame is laid squarely at the feet of the American people.
We have several generations with a large majority of people that have no idea what a bad time, era of difficulty or a period of deprivation of goods is like. They're spoiled clueless. To them it is more important to look good, feel good, have things and far worse, to collect people as objects to enhance their status, not valuable assets to enrich life. The car you drive is more important than having good character on a journey.
My concern for over a decade now, has not been how I or people of strong character I know, will handle tough times when they come along. We'll be fine and adjust. I weathered difficult financial circumstances in the late '60s, when I arrived in this country at 14 years old and had to start working right away. It wasn't horrible, we weren't poverty stricken, my family was rebuilding an exciting new life and reinventing ourselves in America. Rather, I'm more disturbed by how a lot of the population will react when they realize they're not entitled, no one owes them anything and what once came easily to them, is now difficult to obtain or impossible. I want to avoid them by all means.
It has seemed rather obvious to me that since the '93-'94 recession, consumption has been racheting up out of control with only one ultimate conclusion. Since the late '70s and even more so in the '80s, skills and knowledge have been deemphasized and we embraced what I refer to as the MBA Marketing Culture that has no respect for attention to detail. The Cult of Personality and selling image was more important than actually producing something and doing what you said you would do. "It is better to look good than to actually know and do something."I refuse to participate in the negative of this Economic Crisis. Ninety percent of life is NOT just showing up and getting a pension, social security and health care benefits. I see a link between what is happening economically and the social values of the past few decades and I'm not sure there is a choice about a Second and Third Wave in this Great Recession. I'm not buying the Recovery Kool-Aid...we ain't seen nothin' yet. If you do not want to be responsible for yourself and anything you may have done in the past that is causing pain now, I can't be around that. On the other hand, if you made mistakes with debt, relationships, priorities, careers and own up to them and work to repair the damage and reinvent yourself, no one is more for you than I am. It is to everyone's advantage that responsible people get a break if they need one (public money giveaways are not a break).
Since the late '70's I've watched this country thin it's brains and culture out, aspire to less knowledge, become underachievers, more delusional and too comfortable. We have become infatuated with the idea that "everyone is a winner." As for me, since I can remember my desire has been to engage with people smarter and know more than I do because they envisage things I do not and I want to constantly, continually visualize and learn. That is my American Dream. I'm attracted to people who want to engage themselves to be better but I also realize that it's not for everyone.
A successful life can mean many things and a lot of them have nothing to do with career, money, fame or appearance.
Back in my early Bell System days I worked for a Traffic Manager who probably had no idea that he would have a lifetime impact on me with a few simple, direct concepts. To him I was probably just another one of those hippie kids they forced the company to hire. He was definitely "old school", a product of a military stint and a cowboy from Arizona days of yore. He did watch over me though and gave me quite a few good rules on being a leader. If I was beginning to get a little slipshod he would strongly but not too sternly say: "Son, you need to get your papers in order." If I offered up excuses he responded: "Son, charm works for 15 minutes, after that you better know something."Since my involuntary "separation" from my career I've experienced and learned a lot and fortunately am probably as prepared as anyone for what we are likely to see in this country. We're in a highly unusual period and looking at history, macro and micro, distant and recent, the world has been here many times before. It seems to me that in this Era of Great Disruption, you better know something.
End of Rant.
3/24/10
How many times have you driven by this statue and wondered about it?
Navajo WWII Code Talkers Tribute:
Arizona Communications History...
Tribute To Navajo Code Talkers statue
This statute by Doug Hyde is on the northeast corner of Thomas Road and Central Avenue in Phoenix and was placed in 1989 as a tribute to the Navajo Code Talkers. The statue was commissioned through the Heard Museum by Best West Properties Inc. (investor real estate owned by US WEST Inc.) and the Koll Companies, developers of the plaza project. The intention was to represent communications history in Arizona and the commission was due to the location becoming the new state headquarters of US WEST Communications (now Qwest).
At the time there was still some sentiment among corporations in the US to honor the heritage and influence of their industries on the communities they served. This was especially prevalent in telephone companies who had strong traditions and sense of their history and heritage. This specific example is particularly remarkable in that it recognizes the forgotten contributions of the Navajo (and other Native American) Code Talkers of WWII, the connection between historical communications of a group once considered inferior to western US civilization and modern communications. The intent was also to recognize the diversity of the employees and customers the company served.
The inscription on the plaque reads:
Official website of the Navajo Code Talkers: http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Arizona Communications History...
Qwest Tower 20 E Thomas Rd Phoenix AZ
This statute by Doug Hyde is on the northeast corner of Thomas Road and Central Avenue in Phoenix and was placed in 1989 as a tribute to the Navajo Code Talkers. The statue was commissioned through the Heard Museum by Best West Properties Inc. (investor real estate owned by US WEST Inc.) and the Koll Companies, developers of the plaza project. The intention was to represent communications history in Arizona and the commission was due to the location becoming the new state headquarters of US WEST Communications (now Qwest).
At the time there was still some sentiment among corporations in the US to honor the heritage and influence of their industries on the communities they served. This was especially prevalent in telephone companies who had strong traditions and sense of their history and heritage. This specific example is particularly remarkable in that it recognizes the forgotten contributions of the Navajo (and other Native American) Code Talkers of WWII, the connection between historical communications of a group once considered inferior to western US civilization and modern communications. The intent was also to recognize the diversity of the employees and customers the company served.
The inscription on the plaque reads:
This tribute represents the spirit of the Navajo Code Talkers, a group of more than 400 U.S. Marines who bravely served their country during World War II.
Their mission: to utilize the Navajo language in the creation of an unbreakable secret code. Between 1942 and 1945, the Navajo Code Talkers used this code, and their skills as radio operators, to provide a secure method of communications vital to America's Victory.
Among many Native Americans, the flute is a communications tool used to signal the end of confrontation and the coming of peace. This tribute represents the advancement of peace for all future generations.
This is the first permanent tribute to honor the Navajo Code Talkers.
Official website of the Navajo Code Talkers: http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/
____________________________________________________________________________________________
3/22/10
Analog Social Web
How Rosie the Riveter became the First Social Web Guru...
Dallas Bryan Street Toll Office
In the period after World War II telephones and dial service became a priority for the nation as the telephone system became the primary way to connect people for social networking. The building of new, more efficient switches and Operator Service centers became a priority for the Bell System and Independent Telcos to accommodate the rapidly escalating demand for service. A primary way of rebuilding the social, economic and political fabric of the country was by way of connecting people through communications as rapidly and effectively as possible. The United States was emerging from a long era of economic downturn and war.
"Hello Operator? I'd like to make a call."
The role of telephone operators interlacing the analog social web known as the telephone system cannot be underestimated. Without them, many connections could not be made and the call for those connections was skyrocketing. In order to handle the traffic volume, it became necessary to develop standardized methods and procedures for call handling consistency and calculated scheduling techniques, to meet the demands of service. It was a matter of efficiently accomplishing tasks in an analog, mechanical world operated by humans for customer satisfaction at a reasonable cost.
The original customer service contact centers that we know today originated in telephone company operator service centers with methods continuously developed after WWII and institutionalized in the 1950s when Operator Toll Dialing was rolled out nationwide. Operator Toll Dialing was the original implementation of the 10-digit telephone area code and number system we use today. The telephone company Operator Toll Centers set the precedence for call routing to centralized locations and the attendant discipline within operations, required to treat common call situations consistently and staff at peak and trough times, and now the core of call centers today. Regimented operating practices were instituted for the most common types of calls handled and scrupulously monitored, to speed up call handling. This led to the widespread institution of what is now known as "Average Call Handling Time", Available Time" and "Actual Work Time," to shave milliseconds off each call to improve the overall financial performance of what are cost centers.
Diagram of original AT&T Traffic Operator Position System (TSPS) keyshelf
With the onset of computerization and operator systems such as Traffic Service Position System (TSPS) and Traffic Operator Position System (TOPS) more data could be gathered to automate processes. The principles of centralization and standardization were replicated outside the phone companies, creating the call center industry. With each switchboard advance, computerized mechanization and automation of routine tasks, the groundwork was laid for contemporary call center operations.
Edit.jpg)
Dallas Bryan Street Toll Office
"Hello Operator? I'd like to make a call."
The role of telephone operators interlacing the analog social web known as the telephone system cannot be underestimated. Without them, many connections could not be made and the call for those connections was skyrocketing. In order to handle the traffic volume, it became necessary to develop standardized methods and procedures for call handling consistency and calculated scheduling techniques, to meet the demands of service. It was a matter of efficiently accomplishing tasks in an analog, mechanical world operated by humans for customer satisfaction at a reasonable cost.
Albuquerque NM Toll and Assistance Cord Switchboard ca 1970
The original customer service contact centers that we know today originated in telephone company operator service centers with methods continuously developed after WWII and institutionalized in the 1950s when Operator Toll Dialing was rolled out nationwide. Operator Toll Dialing was the original implementation of the 10-digit telephone area code and number system we use today. The telephone company Operator Toll Centers set the precedence for call routing to centralized locations and the attendant discipline within operations, required to treat common call situations consistently and staff at peak and trough times, and now the core of call centers today. Regimented operating practices were instituted for the most common types of calls handled and scrupulously monitored, to speed up call handling. This led to the widespread institution of what is now known as "Average Call Handling Time", Available Time" and "Actual Work Time," to shave milliseconds off each call to improve the overall financial performance of what are cost centers.
Diagram of original AT&T Traffic Operator Position System (TSPS) keyshelf
Northern Electric Original Toll Operator Position System (TOPS)
Edit.jpg)
Bell System TV ad introducing "Computer Assisted Phone Operator" (TSPS) to United States
If you enjoyed this article you may also be interested in my post from two days ago "On Social Web Platforms: Bringing It All Back Home..." http://bit.ly/cok7Ur OR from March 2009 "POTUS LBJ and Obama: Early Adopters of Communications Tools" http://bit.ly/co2TRi
3/16/10
411: What City Please?
Men Broke Barriers Too...
In early 1973 I was one of the first male telephone company switchboard operators hired by the Bell System (and Independent Companies) in the US in over 75 years. I was crossed-trained as a Directory Assistance operator (we worked with large paper directories) and as a Toll and Assistance operator on a manual cord switchboard built in 1948. I later worked as an overseas operator on old circuits in an International Operator Center. Some of my anecdotal operator stories, as well as operator history articles are on the website Privateline.
Telephone history still interests me and look forward on this blog for photographs of original switchboards we used "back in the day."
This is a short video I did a few years ago telling a comedic story about one of my experiences in those days.
411: For What City Please? from JR Snyder Jr on Vimeo.
__________________________________________________________________________________
In early 1973 I was one of the first male telephone company switchboard operators hired by the Bell System (and Independent Companies) in the US in over 75 years. I was crossed-trained as a Directory Assistance operator (we worked with large paper directories) and as a Toll and Assistance operator on a manual cord switchboard built in 1948. I later worked as an overseas operator on old circuits in an International Operator Center. Some of my anecdotal operator stories, as well as operator history articles are on the website Privateline.Telephone history still interests me and look forward on this blog for photographs of original switchboards we used "back in the day."
This is a short video I did a few years ago telling a comedic story about one of my experiences in those days.
411: For What City Please? from JR Snyder Jr on Vimeo.
__________________________________________________________________________________
3/17/09
POTUS LBJ and Obama: Early Adopters of Communications Tools
...Presidential Electronic Trendsetters in footsteps of Lincoln.
"President Johnson believed in using the telephone, and his staff saw to it that he was never more than two minutes from one no matter where he was."
LBJ on phone in Oval Office.
Notice the large PBX console,
speakerphone box and
thick cable connecting the console.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was an early adopter of complex telecommunications to stay in constant communication wherever he went. Through this method he was able to keep tabs on a volatile social political environment he wanted to control. He advanced the use of telecommunications in the Office of the President and the White House, paving the way for a 21st century President Obama to use a Blackberry device.
When he was elected Vice President in 1960 LBJ's "telephone mania" was kicked into high gear and he required even more telephone equipment at the LBJ Ranch . The ranch was served by the Independent Telco Southwestern States Telephone and the high level communication needs in ranch country required a complex arrangement between them and the nearby local Bell System company, Southwestern Bell in Austin.
The assassination of President Kennedy meant an immediate increased demand for instant communications at the ranch by the "always on" new President. On Privateline.com in Telephones at the LBJ Ranch the story of how sudden communications needs were met at the LBJ Ranch, during that national emergency, is recounted from the out of print Good Connections: A Century of Service by the Men and Women of Southwestern Bell by David Park Jr. It is a study in how the regulated wireline telecommunications infrastructure stepped up to meet the needs of a President demanding instant communications in a manner that gives every indication he would make use of wireless devices and the internet today. Also in that section is Don Kimberlin's brush with LBJ's telephone mania and experience with POTUS setup for President Richard M. Nixon.
Going Mobile
LBJ's console
underdesk pullout
Air Force One
President Johnson pushed the envelop of available telecommunications for instant messaging through electronic communications in the 1960s and that included personal involvement in the conducting of a war. A century earlier, President Abraham Lincoln pressed boundaries of available electronic technology by extensive use of the telegraph for instant messaging.
President Abraham Lincoln is a hero of President Barack Obama and Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War by Tom Wheeler (2006) is a friendly read on how President Lincoln combined his skill as a writer with use of the telegraph for effective immediate electronic communication to win the Civil War. Tom Wheeler plays a role and is influential in President Obama's telecommunications policy. It is helpful in understanding how electronic communications that advance in one President's administration permanently changes social communication in the Office of the President .
President Obama's Air Force One Phone
____________________________________________________________
"Oh Doctor please, some more of these, outside the door..."
JFK 1963 Phone Call requesting "a little extra medication" sent up
____________________________________________________________
White House Operators 1970
"President Johnson believed in using the telephone, and his staff saw to it that he was never more than two minutes from one no matter where he was."
From The Heritage of Time: The People and Times of GTE Southwest 1876-1988, by Larry Johnson. (1990)
LBJ on phone in Oval Office.
Notice the large PBX console,
speakerphone box and
thick cable connecting the console.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) was an early adopter of complex telecommunications to stay in constant communication wherever he went. Through this method he was able to keep tabs on a volatile social political environment he wanted to control. He advanced the use of telecommunications in the Office of the President and the White House, paving the way for a 21st century President Obama to use a Blackberry device.
When he was elected Vice President in 1960 LBJ's "telephone mania" was kicked into high gear and he required even more telephone equipment at the LBJ Ranch . The ranch was served by the Independent Telco Southwestern States Telephone and the high level communication needs in ranch country required a complex arrangement between them and the nearby local Bell System company, Southwestern Bell in Austin.The assassination of President Kennedy meant an immediate increased demand for instant communications at the ranch by the "always on" new President. On Privateline.com in Telephones at the LBJ Ranch the story of how sudden communications needs were met at the LBJ Ranch, during that national emergency, is recounted from the out of print Good Connections: A Century of Service by the Men and Women of Southwestern Bell by David Park Jr. It is a study in how the regulated wireline telecommunications infrastructure stepped up to meet the needs of a President demanding instant communications in a manner that gives every indication he would make use of wireless devices and the internet today. Also in that section is Don Kimberlin's brush with LBJ's telephone mania and experience with POTUS setup for President Richard M. Nixon.
Going Mobile
LBJ's console
underdesk pullout
Air Force One
President Johnson pushed the envelop of available telecommunications for instant messaging through electronic communications in the 1960s and that included personal involvement in the conducting of a war. A century earlier, President Abraham Lincoln pressed boundaries of available electronic technology by extensive use of the telegraph for instant messaging.
President Abraham Lincoln is a hero of President Barack Obama and Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War by Tom Wheeler (2006) is a friendly read on how President Lincoln combined his skill as a writer with use of the telegraph for effective immediate electronic communication to win the Civil War. Tom Wheeler plays a role and is influential in President Obama's telecommunications policy. It is helpful in understanding how electronic communications that advance in one President's administration permanently changes social communication in the Office of the President .
Blackberry President
President Obama's Air Force One Phone
____________________________________________________________"Oh Doctor please, some more of these, outside the door..."
JFK 1963 Phone Call requesting "a little extra medication" sent up
____________________________________________________________
White House Operators 1970
3/2/09
Evan Williams on social networking and Twitter.com
Evan Williams on social networking
_____________________________________________________________
Evan Williams on Twitter.com
"twitter is an asynchronous relationship model"
"Twitter is over capacity"
This is the status of Twitter at this moment...
the site has been slow to respond all day.
_____________________________________________________________
Twitter is over capacity.
_____________________________________________________________Too many tweets! Please wait a moment and try again.
I've only been using it a few weeks and already I miss it when it's down!
2/27/09
Twitter and me so far...
developing...
Since Twitter is enjoying yet another resurgence in popularity, my entry now is onto a more evolved site and coinciding with a flurry of other newcomers. For several reasons I'm evaluating a number of web tools and Twitter was inevitable in my life, even if only for a short time, so on Twitter I am.
So now I'm a tweeter, albeit a awkward and not prolific or clever one, I get the point, the vision and now it seems obvious. It is the ubiquitous version of the way a few close friends (all I grew up with) and I have juggled instant messaging, text messaging, cell calls for years to be accessible with the technology we had. We still use good old msn messenger as the start of every day as a link to what we are doing and where we are or what our opinion/mood is at the moment. I might send an IM at 7:30 am and at 10:15 pm my friend sends a reply back by text message and...that goes on back and forth all day, you get the idea. I've known for awhile we were using modified tools from the late 90s, Web 2.0 updated, to accomplish a social connection through the day that seemed outmoded. I will say that for 5 people it's very functional and works but that is it's limit.
Twitter accomplishes what we do among other things on a larger scale. As the early adopter among my little crowd, I've learned to wait for the question "what is this Twitter thing you're doing all about?"
So now I'm a tweeter, albeit a awkward and not prolific or clever one, I get the point, the vision and now it seems obvious. It is the ubiquitous version of the way a few close friends (all I grew up with) and I have juggled instant messaging, text messaging, cell calls for years to be accessible with the technology we had. We still use good old msn messenger as the start of every day as a link to what we are doing and where we are or what our opinion/mood is at the moment. I might send an IM at 7:30 am and at 10:15 pm my friend sends a reply back by text message and...that goes on back and forth all day, you get the idea. I've known for awhile we were using modified tools from the late 90s, Web 2.0 updated, to accomplish a social connection through the day that seemed outmoded. I will say that for 5 people it's very functional and works but that is it's limit.
Twitter accomplishes what we do among other things on a larger scale. As the early adopter among my little crowd, I've learned to wait for the question "what is this Twitter thing you're doing all about?"
to be continued...
_____________________________________________________________
"Evan Williams on what's behind Twitter's explosive growth"
In this TED Conference ten minute video with Evan Williams, he talks about the concept of the side project of Twitter and how it evolved to where it is today.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
"Evan Williams on what's behind Twitter's explosive growth"
In this TED Conference ten minute video with Evan Williams, he talks about the concept of the side project of Twitter and how it evolved to where it is today.
_____________________________________________________________
tip of the hat to our national space
2/25/09
Helen of Many Glacier Hotel 1925
This 1925 photo is fascinating to me. Helen, the switchboard operator, is dignified photographed at this crudely built switchboard for the Many Glacier Hotel in Montana.
2/24/09
Get Yer True Grit Out America!
we interrupt usual programming for a patriotic jingoistic rant...
____________________________________________________________
A little over 40 years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, I moved to the United States with my parents, my sister, aunt, uncle and my cousin. I'm proud and fortunate to have been able to come to the United States and live my American Dream.
Through the decades I've come across all kinds of people working and living their American Dream. The American Dream is a journey that never really ends since as you travel you discover that is the real destination. For those people who have the character traits that are likely to seek the American Dream, the quest to achieve is never satisfied and with each achievement, their nature is to move on to another quest. How the rewards of successful quest results are utilized is as unique as the individuals who achieve them.
We are in an economic crisis and era of social and political change that matches any other in history and a lot of hard work needs to be done...
In the mean time what are we doing to ourselves? Too much mainstream media, government commentary, wall street prognosticators, politicians, all with an overemphasis on the mentality of failure talking. Has everyone lost their senses and their guts and vision? Personally I don't think so. The self-fulfilling prophecy model can happen if more people don't realize that life is not as we knew it but not nearly as bad as we make it and get their mojo back real soon. I believe many already are and will. America was founded on Self-Reliance, Individualism, True Grit, Innovation, Invention and Reinvention...history is on our side, now let's get on with making it.
This is going to be a tough haul and the best thing Americans can do individually is the necessary work to reinvent the way we live to build back a better country.
____________________________________________________________
Some books are timeless and 26 years ago when an odd unintentional medical event sidelined me for a period, I read many books to help me rise above the temporary but difficult immediate situation I was in. One recommended to me by a doctor stands out as still relevant, "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. Although first published in 1946 it remains one of ten most influential books in the US. It is most worthwhile reading for gaining a healthy non-monetary perspective on our current dilemma.
2/20/09
Just a moment girls!
Social and Technology History: How it made me an Early Adopter
In the early 70s I was hired as one of the first male operators in AT&T’s Bell System, then the largest corporation in the world (think Microsoft, Google, Cisco), The Telephone Company, the first electronic social network, a forerunner of today’s social media.
I stepped into a world that for decades had been the enclave of acceptable “woman’s work.” As a result it became a theme in my working life, dealing with the massive social dynamic of gender politics and the very real conflicts between men and women in the workplace. It paved the way for me to be set on a road bridging the gap between the WWII "Greatest Generation" who ran things and us "Boomers" who questioned why things were run that way. My early work experience provided me with skills to see with pretty good clarity the tension that others don’t always see. The skills required to navigate the waters of historic social change, coupled with work tasks that required interacting with people over a vast telephone network, prepared me for social media today. It is an explanation of why I became an accidental Early Adopter.
This 1953 Western Electric (the AT&T subsidiary that manufactured switchboards) operator recruitment ad indicates clearly the job of telephone operator, which could be every bit as complex as working a testboard, was for “girls” of any age only. The men have finished their “men’s work” of building the switchboard and the girls were now needed to “man” the switchboards, for much lower wages than men.Market forces were not at work then. If they had, then the Bell System would not have been a regulated monopoly and on a larger scale, not with gender job roles and pay treatment. In 1948 and through the early 1950’s Operator Toll Dialing was introduced nationwide, the forerunner of customer Direct Distance Dialing (DDD). Long distance traffic was rapidly increasing and the country was humming along towards the economic recovery of 1954.
The demand for women as telephone operators and service representatives was very high and often difficult to constantly recruit for. If market forces were truly at play then the wages of these woman’s jobs should have skyrocketed due to supply and demand. The social interference of assigned gender roles had a significant economic impact on the entire economy. The government interference with attempting to correct assigned gender roles and pay treatment later had unintended consequences on the economy.
In 1973 Stanford University’s Sandra L. Bem and Daryl J. Bem published a report funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, “Does Sex-biased Job Advertising 'Aid and Abet' Sex Discrimination?” in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (1973, 3, 1, pp 6- 18). The article answered the question:
“Do [these] advertising practices aid and abet discrimination in employment by actually discouraging applicants of one sex or the other from applying for jobs for which they are otherwise well qualified? The two studies reported in this article sought to answer this question empirically. Both were conducted as part of legal testimony, the first in a suit filed by the EEOC against American Telephone and telegraph Company, the second in a suit filed by the National Organization of Women against The Pittsburgh Press."
The use of the Scientific Method, a “hard” science test on Social Science, a “soft” science, for use in a court of law to argue a social case with the potential for economic disruption is still being debated today. Nonetheless it was allowed to be introduced and the course of events seemed inevitable due to the social pressures of the time.
AT&T signed a Consent Decree with the EEOC and the US Justice Department on January 18, 1973 that opened the door for specific hiring quotas for targeted underrepresented groups. My slot had been secured by federal decree in a Bell System job and my job duties were mandated to be “nontraditional” or in the old parlance, woman’s work.
I never objected to performing those jobs because I was young, grew up outside of the US and generally I wasn't looking for a “man’s job” anyway since for me it would likely have meant being a dreaded “suit.” What I did strenuously object to was the limitation it placed on my career mobility. During the recession of the 70s what little hiring occurred across the nation happened mostly in nontraditional jobs that were being filled by force of hand of the federal government. My fate was sealed.
Technology and social change were meeting in the vast Bell System and other corporations like IBM right at the time I was in college and working at the local Bell Company as a nontraditional male operator. The mood on campuses versus that in technology giants such as AT&T and IBM was a contrast. The technology giants were forced into melding cultures by meddling and our generation was expected to deal with it. The effect of that era of social change, technology and economic conditions on the macro economy is still being studied today.
In the long run for me personally it was instrumental to my becoming an Early Adopter. The skills I learned helped me assist people in adapting technology to people and social change, instead of the other way around. Boomers took the old networks that were locked down and secured away from the average user, except with the intervention of workers like telephone operators, bringing networks direct to the user. The box of Pandora was opened and as we are once again in the midst of great social change, it helps to look back to see how we got here for guidance through the present to the future.
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The first telephone operators were teenage boys and this short video explains why they were quickly replaced by women...
2/16/09
A great explanation of the value of Twitter by Dr. Tom Guarriello
I'm exploring Twitter, dipping my toes in, already seeing the value of it for me and intend to do more in-depth blogs (maybe a vlog) on how I am adapting this social media tool to work for me. This 22 minute video by Dr. Tom Guarriello of TrueTalk and VloggerHeads is a very personable explanation of how to use Twitter coupled with why you would want to use Twitter. I also found it useful in understanding what Twitter is.
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"Twitter: Why Bother"
Find more videos like this on VloggerHeads
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You may follow Dr. Tom Guarriello by going to his Twitter profile at www.twitter.com/tomguarriello.
2/14/09
each melody is you
by ournationalspace on youtube
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when it comes along i'll know it
The perfect song i'll own it
but of course it'll be yours
from me
hang on to it all
those dresses those shoes
you make them so pretty with your smiles
one day you'll wear them
at dances at spring balls
i'll spin you round and round for miles
your blue valentine will turn red
your private poet's flubbed lines will be reread
all the wrong notes will be rewrote
for you
it's always for you my white flame
no matter the who or what the name
each melody is you with a beating rhythm true
for you
but of course it'll be yours
from me
hang on to it all
those dresses those shoes
you make them so pretty with your smiles
one day you'll wear them
at dances at spring balls
i'll spin you round and round for miles
your blue valentine will turn red
your private poet's flubbed lines will be reread
all the wrong notes will be rewrote
for you
it's always for you my white flame
no matter the who or what the name
each melody is you with a beating rhythm true
for you
2/13/09
Roger: The Boring Dispatcher
repost on 02.20.2009 to add tribute video at end of post.
In late 2005, early 2006 I was discovering the brand new wonders of the video sharing site YouTube with delight. The viral videos were lowbrow to me (sorry Kevin Nalts) but it was way too cool digging through all those tv, movie and best of all, music video clips. I soon discovered the new medium of video web loggers (vloggers) that was developing on YouTube, anonymously watching from my first channel that I created in February 2006. I collected and favorited videos, many of which would not be allowed today and not just because of copyright violations but scandalous content. On that channel (the username an odd mix of letters and numbers) I began to venture out into the social networking world and leave quite a few not so judicious comments. The year 2006 on YouTube was the year of real anarchy where uploading almost anything went unchallenged unless it was pure porn.
In February of 2007 I closed my first channel and opened my current channel with my public username. I had been considering it for a few months and this video "Paypal (Ian's Song)" by ournationalspace for some reason convinced me to do it. Keep in mind that since the 90s I have been cautious and selective regarding which sites I created accounts on, to open a real channel and throw away my anonymous experimental channel, was a commitment of my username. That year the anarchy became a bit more tamed but an online networking social community was crystallizing around vlogging and there was disorder and drama providing the energy that drove the emotional engines of the social community.
One of the best and most prolific vloggers, one of the first that I really remember, was Roger TheBoringDispatcher and especially his "vlog war" with HellionExciter. You probably would have to experienced or been around in that period of Web 2.0 and YouTube to understand why the death of Roger impacted the YouTube community in a very big way and the part it has played since. To me personally he was always very considerate, even if I always wasn’t, while remaining very real.
Just as people I have written about for niche historical publication, that were an early part of different periods of telephone history, were unrecognized at the time for what they were doing, to be later seen as pioneers…I believe people like Roger will in time be recognized for the beginnings of this thing called vlogging.
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This is the tribute video created for him a year ago, at the time of his death, where a vast majority of the community posted video response tributes and commented on the loss. It is still the video that best captures Roger and that moment in time with many comments remaining and some of the responses still attached.
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Simple 2009 One Year Tribute by mymoosejaw Dave:
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Roger Forever (memorial collab for theboringdispatcher)
uploaded on 02/20/2009 on You Tube by Lea, user achampag
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In late 2005, early 2006 I was discovering the brand new wonders of the video sharing site YouTube with delight. The viral videos were lowbrow to me (sorry Kevin Nalts) but it was way too cool digging through all those tv, movie and best of all, music video clips. I soon discovered the new medium of video web loggers (vloggers) that was developing on YouTube, anonymously watching from my first channel that I created in February 2006. I collected and favorited videos, many of which would not be allowed today and not just because of copyright violations but scandalous content. On that channel (the username an odd mix of letters and numbers) I began to venture out into the social networking world and leave quite a few not so judicious comments. The year 2006 on YouTube was the year of real anarchy where uploading almost anything went unchallenged unless it was pure porn.
In February of 2007 I closed my first channel and opened my current channel with my public username. I had been considering it for a few months and this video "Paypal (Ian's Song)" by ournationalspace for some reason convinced me to do it. Keep in mind that since the 90s I have been cautious and selective regarding which sites I created accounts on, to open a real channel and throw away my anonymous experimental channel, was a commitment of my username. That year the anarchy became a bit more tamed but an online networking social community was crystallizing around vlogging and there was disorder and drama providing the energy that drove the emotional engines of the social community.
One of the best and most prolific vloggers, one of the first that I really remember, was Roger TheBoringDispatcher and especially his "vlog war" with HellionExciter. You probably would have to experienced or been around in that period of Web 2.0 and YouTube to understand why the death of Roger impacted the YouTube community in a very big way and the part it has played since. To me personally he was always very considerate, even if I always wasn’t, while remaining very real.
Just as people I have written about for niche historical publication, that were an early part of different periods of telephone history, were unrecognized at the time for what they were doing, to be later seen as pioneers…I believe people like Roger will in time be recognized for the beginnings of this thing called vlogging.
______________________________________________________________
This is the tribute video created for him a year ago, at the time of his death, where a vast majority of the community posted video response tributes and commented on the loss. It is still the video that best captures Roger and that moment in time with many comments remaining and some of the responses still attached.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Simple 2009 One Year Tribute by mymoosejaw Dave:
______________________________________________________________
Roger Forever (memorial collab for theboringdispatcher)
uploaded on 02/20/2009 on You Tube by Lea, user achampag
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2/12/09
On my way to 2009 the year 2008 happened
When I did the video "Online Social Networking Revolution: Thinking Ahead" a year ago I was certain on my premise but certainly could not realize how prescient I was on the topic. A funny thing happened on the way to doing the things I talked about at the end of the video, real life events that required full attention, therefore until recently a lot of online action was delayed. This website blog is a big piece of my work now with blogging, vlogging and online social networking and the beginning of where I was heading back then.
I do have something more to say in a vlog as a follow up to this video and I'm preparing to do that. Personally I'm seeing a lot of late forties to early sixties boomers completing those online forms to all kinds of social networking sites they never completed years ago. From Facebook to Reunion.com to beliefnet.com to Twitter to CNN, you get the idea...this is worth commenting on.
These folks have the time now after unexpected unemployment, forced retirement, part time and/or underemployment and the damage the economic crisis has caused. There is a wave, a flock if you will, coming onto online social networks of the next adopters. They no longer give me that look about "being on the internet" that they used to since now they're on the internet a lot more. Now they ask questions.
It is why I started using Twitter and still like my YouTube social networking community that I know, with Skype and Stickam as tools to bridge them together among other tools. What will be dropped and what will be added is dependent on the economy, access, ease of use, value, privacy. Pretty tough criteria really that I think all social networking sites are going to have to contend with, along with a business model that at a minimum breaks even on the bottom line. It is interesting contrasting my much more tech savvy online community friends that use more current applications, with some of my lifelong offline friends that I'm still chatting with on good old MSN Messenger and certainly not with a headset or webcam. They're getting there with rapidity though, they just left tech savvy workplaces, Skype is in their lexicon.
To its peril, while searching in vain it's soulless corporate being, YouTube sacrificed it's unintended thriving online social networking community, to blundering Google corporate handlers trying to make a huge profit by all kinds of deals with content providers. Guess what? YouTube still don't make no money. The very thing, online social networking, that was exploding and YouTube by natural consequence had, they squandered while the bubble was expanding. The online social community still exists on YouTube but it is not what it was or what it could have been or possibly might still be. It remains to be seen what happens since I don't believe that story is close to ending.
I learned a lot from the very early days of the internet and even more about online social behavior in the 90s as the web reached the masses. It remains to be seen which technologies, software and sites that I use as the interweb unfolds and online social networking increases to even more of the masses by the ubiquitous connectivity across devices from the pc to smartphones and operates in the "cloud."
tbc...
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of course all bets are off if we have a catastrophic technological breakdown. I mean really...who knows what's next?
at least I weigh 60 lbs less than a year ago!
2/9/09
2/8/09
So I finally decided to try this Twitter thing...
http://twitter.com/jrsnyderjr
let's just see what happens, tbc.
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This is Lea, username achampag, a self described "Twitter Wh*re." Send her a tweet at http://twitter.com/achampag and mention JR. Tell her to vlog more on YouTube, she will love you for it!
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Here again is Jon Rettinger of jon4lakers.com on why he uses Twitter. He's http://twitter.com/jon4lakers.
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