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Conversation Piece
The 1960s to today
by Guy Babineau

Introduction / Invention and early history / Late 19th and early 20th century / Mid-20th century / The 1960s to today

At beginning of the 1960s the U.S. had half of the 
world's 160 million telephones. A new service 
called TELPAK was initiated, special "electronic 
highways" for telecommunications. Telstar, the 
world's first international communications satellite, 
blasted into space. Paging systems were put into 
commercial use.

The Picturephone was aggressively marketed but a 
public wary of invasion of privacy didn't buy it. 
They did buy the new Touchtone telephone, though, 
as well as the first cordless telephones and the 
Trimline, which combined the handset and keypad 
in one unit. The Supreme Court struck down a New 
York State law authorizing electronic surveillance, 
declaring it unconstitutional. 1969 arrived. The 
Vietnam War was raging, man landed on the moon, 
hippie culture had its swan song with Woodstock 
and the American military had Arpanet, the precursor 
to the Internet.

Communications technology blitzkrieged the 70s, 
while disco thumped in the background, women, 
gays, and non-whites thumped their fists on the 
table demanding equal rights and new attitudes 
about sex thumped wherever they felt like it. Social 
changes were expedited by the first wave of VCRs, 
satellite television, PCs, floppy disks and cellular 
phones. The Touch-a-matic Telephone was the first 
phone with built-in memory.

This massive, unprecedented, seemingly 
inescapable access to information and entertainment 
was markedly matched by the first surge of 
nostalgia for old-style telephone technology. Bell 
unveiled its 1974 Design Line, ten new telephones 
that looked like old telephones, some available in 
customized wood, leather or fabric.

The 1980s and 90s saw the integration of telephone 
and computer technology. In places in the world 
where digital and analog transmission occurs, this 
pairing has made possible contraptions that mirror 
the fanciful vision of the future in the 1960s TV 
phenomenon Star Trek. It bleeps, you pull it out of 
your pocket, flip it open and yak away, accessible to 
anyone, anytime, anywhere. 

Enterprising Motorola has leapt onto the 
bandwagon with its StarTac, a 'wearable' telephone. 
"So small, so light, it's always with you.," goes the 
promo copy. It comes with an optional headset, a 
carrying purse, holster, necklace or arm band. You 
can recharge it in the car using a cigarette lighter 
adapter. It even look likes a part of Captain Kirk's 
wardrobe. Similarly small, Nokia's 8110 series is 
the first phone to come with an interface in Asian 
languages, recognizing that over half the world's 
population might have a thing or two to say in the 
new millennium. Teeniest of the bunch, at 3.6" x 
2.4" x 1.0", is Sony's combined digital/analog D-
Wave Zuma, with the trade-marked slogan "Now 
you're talking." And people are talking, for all the 
world to hear. 

Design is more than the external appearance of an 
object. Design is also the planned implementation 
of purpose; how an object functions. Good design 
offers the most effective relationship between the 
purpose of an object and the human body 
(ergonomics). Extraordinary design occurs when it 
satisfies us visually without compromising or 
contradicting its function. The telephone has 
reached Good but arguably still has a way to go to 
get to Extraordinary, although perhaps not too far. 
When it gets there, it may be serving its purpose 
better than we'd like.

Industry statistics indicate that over 50% of pagers 
and cellphones are purchased for safety reasons. 
They're good for business. And, when innovative 
designers get hold of them, imagine their potential 
as accessories, the range of colors and materials that 
could be employed to make them seem less like 
technology and more an extension of human self-
image.

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Originally published online at U magazine, now folded.

© Guy Babineau 2003-2004

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