News: POPCORN To Go Away
A sad day has come for those of us who can’t tell time: AT&T Communications (a company that once dominated the country’s telephone grid, only to break into smaller phone companies that decades later it’d buy out to…once again dominate the country’s telephone grid…) announced that starting in September, the beloved speaking clock system “POPCORN” will go away.
Since the 1920s, telephone users in Northern California have been able to dial the numbers 7-6-7, followed by four more digits of their choosing (not just 2-6-7-6, or “CORN”), to hear Joanne Daniels or Jane Barbe announce the time. However, AT&T said in a mailing to customers recently that the telephone time systems have started failing since the 1960s. AT&T also said that an improvement in technology over the past few decades have caused people to stop picking up their phones and start looking at automatic time-setting devices, such as their computer taskbars, cell phone displays and even bedside clock radios—all things that are making POPCORN obsolete. Currently, POPCORN is only available in Nevada and California, two states once served by Pacific Bell (or Nevada Bell) before an acquisition by SBC Communications and later AT&T.
If you want one last chance to bother the speaking clock, you’ll have to do it before the shutoff date of September 19th, 2007. After that time, the equipment will be shut off and you’ll have to turn to other places to get your time—which shouldn’t be an issue, but it’s still sad to see a telecommunications icon fizzle away. AT&T hasn’t said just yet what they’ll do with the 7-6-7 prefix, but since cell phones are causing many areas to split up into new area codes, they’ll likely recycle the numbers in a few years.
(This entry also available on Digg.com)
I'm a 21-year-old technology, music and local media blogger from Sacramento, California.
August 30th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Damn, I didn’t even know telephone times still existed. Guess I’ve been spending way too much time under my rock.
August 30th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
How sad. I just dialed 415-767-2676 and got:
“Good evening. At the tone Pacific Daylight time will be 8:40 and 30 seconds. Good evening. At the tone Pacific Daylight time will be 8:40 and 40 seconds… “
September 1st, 2007 at 12:42 pm
@Bent: Everyone’s got cell phones now. And even cell phones aren’t for talking anymore—people text or watch movies or listen to music or browse the internet. Crazy times.
@Dick: It was one of those lonely nights, huh?
September 4th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I’m glad to say at least we still have the speaking clock who’s number is still 123 (except on my mobile, where it’s voicemail)