9-button dialer... credit card reader... this is a fairly modern phone. It'd even be useful if a battery died or (given the location) someone dropped their phone over the side of the boat into the lake - as long as they could remember the phone number of the person they needed to call.

I don't think this is a relic; kids today wouldn't be confused by the technology (as they might with a rotary dial), and given the location, I'll bet it gets used more than you'd think.

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 5 points 8 months ago

Yeah that's the best part of using these things in an emergency.

30 years ago I used to memorize about 20 seven digit phone numbers. I may have remembered one or two ten digit numbers for long distance calls but we live in northern Ontario and the entire area of our province is the size of France and has one area code.

Now I have a hard time recalling my wife's number if I had to call anyone I know in a public pay phone. I have to stop and think to remember what my number is. I definitely wouldn't be able to remember any of my close friends or family members.

Honestly in an emergency, I would have an easier time going to library to use a computer to contact someone on Facebook or Instagram