Twitter, of course, makes extensive use of the # symbol for “hashtags.” In most of the world, ask for a pound symbol and you’ll see this: £ which is, of course, the symbol for the British pound. In much of the world, the # symbol is called a “hash,” which will make sense to anyone who uses Twitter. ![]() The # button became useful for a generation of voice-mail systems that proclaimed, “To finish, press pound.”Īnd by the way… why is it called the pound key? AT&T introduces a series of “star codes” that let the caller do things like call back the person who had just called (*69) as well as other services. Good thinking, AT&T.īy the 1980s, people figured out what to do with the extra buttons. In fact, they were added mostly “because we can.” Since seven tones would make twelve sounds, AT&T figured they may as well put the extra buttons in, just in case someone figured out a use for them. They were added in 1968, but no one knew what to do with them. Notice anything missing? No * or # buttons. However, originally there were no * or # buttons. Two tones together were used because it made it harder for the computer to mistake the sound of someone singing or some background noise.īy using a grid, seven tones could make twelve different sounds. A microphone hooked to a computer listened for the sounds and was able to decode the number. The way it worked was, the user pushed a button and it made a combination of two sounds. By the standards of the day it was very complex, although it was incredibly simple to our computerized, jaded eyes.Ī normal touch-tone phone could make a total of seven tones. The system was designed so that it wouldn’t accidentally dial a number because of music being played or people singing. ![]() ![]() Touch-tone service was first unveiled in 1963 and became available to New York and Los Angeles customers in 1964. The old systems took a long time to dial 10 or 11 numbers (like 1-24) and connection problems were starting to mount up. One hundred years ago, if you had a phone at all, you still had to call the operator first. Dial phones were introduced in some areas as early as 1916, but it wasn’t until 1951 that you could call outside of your city or town without calling the operator first.ĭirect Distance Dialing, or long distance as most people called it, created a huge burden on the telephone systems. J| UPDATED FOR ’23 and beyond: Get to know “Tuner Math”.J| Is there a voice remote for older DIRECTV boxes?.J| DIRECTV losing SD channels: trying to make sense of it all.J| THROWBACK THURSDAY: That time Google did augmented reality 9 years before Apple.J| Do you get Emergency Alerts on your phone?. ![]()
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