1950s voice recognition.

Some things were best left alone to its own unique device. A good idea gone bad? A communication instrument that was user friendly and had ease of operation. Very simple and fast. Just pick up and talk into the heavy black phone receiver and it would follow your commands. Usually.

However this was 1952. Wilson, Oklahoma. Population 1800. My grandmother would pick up the telephone receiver and say, “Nettie ring Pratt’s Grocery. Then within an instant someone on the other end would say, “Pratt’s Grocery.” No dial pad. No contact list. No ringer or vibrator to set. Not even a Hey SIRI or dial tone. Just pick-up and talk. There wasn’t even a rotary dial or key pad with letters and numbers. It was like magic. Just ease of operation and user friendly. Oh so simple. Just lift and talk.

Question: How did they do that back in those days? What did they know back then that’s not known or quickly forgotten today.

Answer: its man’s insatiable quest to complicate and make technologically more difficult. All with the hopes of adding in more bells and whistles. If not adding in a greater cost. Resulting in requiring an engineer degree if not hiring a seventeen-year old techy kid.

Alexander Graham Bell! Look what you did. Turn a simple device into a Steve Jobs ‘Technofrustrator.’ Boy, have we come a long way. For better or worse? You be the judge. Boy howdy!