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Selling gizmos that can't be disassembled should be illegal

posted 2 years ago by MaximRecoil (4599)
21 replies | jump to latest

I have a phone (Sony IT-B3) that I bought new in 1995 that I have some nostalgia for, because it's the phone I always used to talk to my ex-girlfriend on from 1997 to 2000, and even talked to Art Bell a few times on it during that same period.

I came across it in a drawer the other night and thought it would be fun to talk to my ex on it again, for the first time in over 20 years (we are still on good terms), but when I tested it out, the transmitter was barely transmitting. The handset looked like it would be easy to take apart since it only had one screw, but removing the screw did exactly nothing. Even prying with a screwdriver between the two halves of the plastic shell accomplished nothing. The only way to get it apart would be to break it. I would love to be able to get the Sony engineers on the stand and have them explain their horseshit.

If not for nostalgia for this particular phone, I wouldn't care at all about any phone made by Sony. I like old corded phones and have quite a few of them, but all my other ones were made by Western Electric (ones that say "Bell System Property - Not For Sale" on them), and those are fully serviceable; not that they need to be fixed very often, since they were built to last pretty much forever.

[–] brux (14724) 2 years ago

> and even talked to Art Bell a few times on it during that same period.

Uh oh! Possible loonie alert! ;-)

[–] MaximRecoil (4599) 2 years ago

I actually have a recording of one of my calls to him, which was from that Sony phone. I was able to get it because the local radio station decided to use my call in a promo for Art Bell's show. At the time I always had a tape ready to go in case I heard a song I wanted to record off the radio, and when I heard my voice come on the air out of the blue the next day, I recorded it. I wasn't fast enough to record the whole promo spot, so the only part you hear from me is "Yeah":

https://vocaroo.com/1eZSUFcCPvfi

[–] brux (14724) 2 years ago

Art Bell was a crazy guy. One of the only things on over the night at times in my area. I lived in the Bay Area, CA, and KGO was OK overnights sometimes, but when they had Ray Taliafero on, rest is peace, often I just could not take his endless rants - even if I did sometimes agree with him, So I'd turn to Art Bell. Sometimes I could not even stand Art, but he was a real character and could fire up people's imaginations, that was fun. I recall the Chupacabra, and Remote Viewing, and they former guy from NASA who imagined he saw these glass cities on the Moon. What was his name? And then callers would call in with funny stories. He was at least entertaining. But no doubt he was a loonie, or a loonie sympathizer! ;-)

[–] MaximRecoil (4599) 2 years ago

Art Bell was the best radio show host I've ever heard. On top of that, he was the only national radio show host with millions of listeners that I know of who didn't screen his calls. If you called in and someone answered, it was Art Bell and you were on the air. And you could talk about anything.

My calls to him were never about anything paranormal or conspiracy theories. That call in the recording I linked to above was a technical question about radio broadcasting, since I knew he was an expert on the technical side of things (he was a ham radio operator, not just a radio personality). And then, because he was such a good radio show host, he ran with my technical question and turned it into something amusing off the top of his head (i.e., transmit talk radio in stereo and put people on the left or right channel depending on their political leanings).

"and they former guy from NASA who imagined he saw these glass cities on the Moon. What was his name?"

Richard C. Hoagland.

[–] brux (14724) 2 years ago

Richard Hoagland ... yes, thanks.

The man (Art) had a good vision and did it right. I agree about the call screening, but that is in line with the Right-wing censorship of everything today.

C-SPAN doesn't screen calls. Most of the free speech stuff is not screened, but and example I will never forget was I was listening to Mark Levin once, and he was ranting and working himself up into a fervor, and then took a call from his "Liberal Line", and then swore at, insulted and berated the poor caller and did not let him say a work. What a ahole.

[–] mirelurk (884) 2 years ago

Do you still have feelings for your ex?