{"id":3111,"date":"2016-03-14T03:10:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T21:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3111"},"modified":"2016-03-14T03:10:45","modified_gmt":"2016-03-13T21:40:45","slug":"landline-nostalgia-smartphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3111","title":{"rendered":"You Used to Call Me on My Landline: Remembering Hotline Bling of the \u201990s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

W<\/span><\/p><\/div>

hen Graham Bell invented the telephone, I am sure he did not think that one day, his creation would be used by thirsty millennials to find a mate on <\/span>Tinder<\/span><\/a>. Perhaps even Charles Darwin would\u2019ve been unable to predict this unlikely evolution. Of course, back then, the telephone wasn\u2019t \u201csmart\u201d, but that doesn\u2019t mean it was dumb. It was symbolic. The telephone, or the landline, as us \u201990s kids call it, represented that generation just as much as today\u2019s selfie-clicking, Netflixing, Insta-storying smartphone represents the current one. <\/span>\n\nThe <\/span>smartphone<\/span><\/a> is the ultimate technological emblem of instant gratification, a high to which today\u2019s generation is addicted. Everything is now, in the moment. Mah lyf, mah rulez. The fact that your quest for instant gratification is recorded for posterity on the cloud is no cause for alarm, even though if we were still using landlines, there would be no data theft and Donald Trump would not be playing \u201cMine\u2019s Bigger\u201d on Twitter with Kim Jong-un. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s not just politics, landlines also had a tremendous impact on our <\/span>psychology<\/span><\/a>, teaching us patience and restraint. Remember how your parents would allot fixed time slots for your siblings and you to chat with your friends? Back when we had to sell a kidney to make a call from a mobile phone? Twenty years ago in India, there was one box-like device with numbers on it that bonded families together like a viewing of <\/span>Hum Saath Saath Hain<\/span><\/i>. You could tell your absent-minded grandfather had used the phone last because the receiver wasn\u2019t properly placed back in the cradle, and recognise each family member, from youngest to oldest, by the tone of their \u201chello\u201d.<\/span>\n\nThat device was precious, that is why it was corded. Not like today\u2019s smartphones, constantly falling out of pockets in cabs and trains. The <\/span>landline<\/span><\/a> had a wire that kept it \u2013 and you \u2013 rooted, but it could also set you free if you chose to be unavailable. You went out, the phone stayed in. Today\u2019s smartphones are more like tracking devices, following you around like a puppy. \u201cYou and I, in this beautiful world,\u201d and all that. <\/span>\n\n

Years ago, people used to store landline numbers in their memories, not their memory cards.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nWith your smartphone, you simply cannot be unavailable; the blue ticks will get you. You can\u2019t take a break from work since disabling the blue ticks will get you chucked out of your office <\/span>WhatsApp<\/span><\/a> group, and maybe even your office. It\u2019ll force you to lose a few IQ points in dire times, say for instance, when your boss or uncle posts the oldest joke known to mankind, and you are obliged to reply with a ROFL smiley because, increment. <\/span>\n\nStifling your irritation is not the only emotional compromise <\/span>smartphones<\/span><\/a> force upon you. They also stop you from blowing off steam. You can\u2019t get angry while using your smartphone. They\u2019re too delicate, and you can\u2019t afford a replacement. But you can bang a landline as hard as you want, which has the dual effect of getting your point across to the caller as well as leading you to catharsis. When I used to be angry, I\u2019d slam the receiver down so hard that the person on the other end could visualise me showing them the middle finger. <\/span>\n\nNot only have we lost a vent for our aggression, our mental capacity has also dwindled. Years ago, people used to store<\/span> landline<\/span><\/a> numbers in their memories, not their memory cards. Reciting the numbers in that distinct, sing-song rhythm definitely helped. Today, people have difficulty remembering how old they are. <\/span>\n\nThe other day I asked my friend for his car\u2019s number, and he opened an app where it was stored along with his <\/span>ATM<\/span><\/a> pin, which I noted. Now, all I need is his debit card. Back in the day of landlines, such pranks weren\u2019t sinister. If the old uncle refused to give back your cricket ball, his afternoon siesta would go for a toss thanks to blank calls. No caller ID was a wonderful thing. <\/span>\n\nLandlines were there with you through thick and thin. They were there when it rained, when the electricity went out, when you had to greet someone, and when you had to console someone. Calls were scratchy, but they wouldn\u2019t drop off. They didn\u2019t have a battery that died on you while you were on the phone with your <\/span>crush<\/span><\/a>. They didn\u2019t heat up, turning one side of your face into a sweaty, sticky mess. In short, landlines didn\u2019t die on you. <\/span>\n\nUnless of course you sat on them. Which at that point, is really your bad. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty years ago in India, there was one box-like device with numbers on it that bonded families together like a viewing of Hum Saath Saath Hain. The landline had a wire that kept you rooted \u2013 but it could also set you free if you chose to be unavailable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":3112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[6097,224,5105,1466,6098,1051],"class_list":["post-3111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-landlines","tag-love","tag-puppy-love","tag-romance","tag-smartphones","tag-tinder"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Used to Call Me on My Landline: Remembering Hotline Bling of the \u201990s<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Twenty years ago in India, there was one box-like device with numbers on it that bonded families together like a viewing of Hum Saath Saath Hain. 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