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by Zanni 538 days ago
As a former telephone operator from this era who spent most shifts frantically bubbling scantrons as business men rattled off their calling card numbers and call numbers at lighting speed, I would have been delighted by this break in routine.
2 comments
jonah 538 days ago
> frantically bubbling scantrons

I want to know more!

I assumed numbers were entered directly on a 10-key. Were they scantrons as a paper record, as an asynchronous way to enter the data, or?

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Zanni 533 days ago
It was a paper record of every (paid) phone call. This was in the 80s before the switch to digital. The front side had the origin and destination numbers, the back side had the calling card number.

Also--we didn't use a 10-key! Our keypad was 2x5 rather than 3x3, and inverted (low numbers at the top).

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fsckboy 538 days ago
"one ringy dingy... two ringy dingies" - Zanni probably

for the uninitiated https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT4__Nz5HWY

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