In message , Paul
writes:
wrote:
On Thu, 21 Sep 2017 11:34:10 +0000, wrote:

Hi,

Today (09-21-17) I installed WinXP SP2 on a new HD. As in the past,
I used the telephone method to "Activate" Windows.

I had NO problems "Activating" Windows using the telephone
system.

John
Is that one of them crank telephones with a rotary dial?


I think the crank was for operator-assisted calls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_magneto

I think the crank was for generating the power to run the thing, where
there wasn't a powered exchange - things like military field telephones;
I don't _think_ I've seen a 'phone with both a crank and a dial, but
they probably do exist.

The dial based ones drive...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_dialing

Strowger swtches, but also work with universal line cards
on digital switches. If it didn't work with a digital switch,

I keep wondering how much longer they'll support pulse dialling; I hope
a long time, but I anticipate not.
[]
It's awkward where touch-tone is _required_: a few years ago, I was
trying to 'phone the power company during a power cut, using a 'phone I
got out of a cupboard (obviously my cordless didn't work), and their
receiving system told me to press 1 for ... and so on. But the 'phone I
had only did pulses. (Yes, I know 'phoneline-powered ones do tones these
days, but this was an old one - not rotary dial, pushbutton, but I think
from the transitional period [UK was some time behind US in using touch
tones], and it only did pulses, albeit electronically-generated.) In
most cases, these sort of automatic call-handling systems fall back to
connecting you to a human if you don't make a selection, but in this
case it didn't. (I think it either just kept endlessly repeating the
menu, or disconnected.)

It's also fun to startle youngsters by dialling a number by banging on
the rest, though with today's long numbers, it's easier to make a
mistake while doing so. (Also useful when encountering a 'phone where
someone has removed buttons in an attempt to limit what calls can be
made - e. g. in UK by removing all but the 9.)

I've noticed a tendency in a lot of modern 'phones to "hide" the actual
tones from the user: they emit the same bleep whichever number you're
pressing. Not sure why. (Obviously they send the right tones down the
line.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.