Louisiana Towns Going High-Tech

wolverineinspector writes "Mink, LA is finally getting telephone land lines after the neighbouring communities got theirs in 1970. In the article they also say that as many as 6.2% of US homes don't have phone service - that would mean that 19 million Americans don't have wired phone lines available to them."

Comments

Re:welcome to teh 20th century

[drxray]

Their first call:

"Hi. Got Skype?"

Re:and

[PoopJuggler]

It also means that 6.2% of Americans aren't getting gouged or ripped-off by the telcos.

Telephones just now, eh?

[nxtr]

So much for Canada being the great white north.

Don't forget the Amish

[UpLateDrinkingCoffee]

In the article they also say that as many as 6.2% of US homes don't have phone service - that would mean that 19 million Americans don't have wired phone lines available to them."

Maybe some people just don't want a telephone, like the Amish. They certainly don't account for 6.2% of U.S. homes, but I'll bet it's a factor.

Re:Don't forget the Amish

[deathazre]

the hell, the amish have a website?

What the hell?

[evilviper]

No matter how many times I read it, I have no clue what the hell this paragraph in the story is supposed to mean:

The analog service, which is being phased out here, also lacks features like voice mail. So people like Ray, who sells fire-extinguishing systems for Firetrace International in the Southeast, can sometimes be found at the local Dumpster in a clearing, shouting into his digital cell phone: "How is the signal? HOW IS THE SIGNAL?"

Whaaaaaa?

Re:I didn't either...

[jschottm]

What a waste, every call on the land line is a telemarketer...about 6-10 a day.

At the very least, use it for some fun. Just get an answering machine without a ringer. Here's some ideas to get you started:

1. Record the little error tone that the phone company uses and get a woman to do a really pinched voice, "The number you have called, 555-1234, has been changed. The new number is 555-1234. Please note this change."

2. Get someone to do the voice of an elderly person, "Hello? Hello? You're goana have to speak up sonny, I'm a little hard of hearing. What? You're calling from who?" It helps if you can get a really long recording time.

3. I'm going to assume from your username that you're down in Texas. Just record something really unpleasant happening on a farm to a cow.

4. Fax handshake. For added style points, record a message and record a 300 baud modem sending it in plaintext ala Information Society.

5. Amusing excerpts - for a while I had bits of Deliverence or the introduction to Jesus Built My Hotrod as my message.

6. Same concept as 2, but get an actual little kid. "No, Daddy doesn't want to talk to you. I have blocks. I like them. I make..."

At the end of the month, play back the messages and see if you got any amusing responses. It would be more amusing to hack up a Linux telephony box so you could record their responses as the message plays, but that might be a little too much effort.

Huh? Dont tell me...

[Creepy Crawler]

---The Federal Communications Commission does not keep track of places without phone service, but a survey released in October found that 93.8 percent of American households had telephones of some sort

Was it a PHONE survey? Please dont say it so..

Re:and

[SoSueMe]

That means 19 million Americans don't have to sign up for the "Do Not Call" list.

Boy... we may be behind here in louisiana... but..

[bmooney28]

slashdot missed this story by the better part of a week ;) (check the date on it!)

Re:Just because 6.2% don't have phones

[Waffle Iron]

Well of course they would need to have phones. How else would they be able to coordinate with their offshore quilt suppliers?