Comment on What's a 'common sense' thing that you genuinely don't understand, and have been too embarrassed to ask about until now?

over_clox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Honestly how did two wires on old phones power the phone, got it to ring, hold a two-way conversation, and also dial out? Only two wires?!?

  I took a class at college on it and the mystery was revealed but I’m still convinced it’s magic.

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  • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Only two wires?!?

    LOL.

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  • GhostPain@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Oh man, you need to look up AM radio towers!

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  • over_clox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Apparently they ran on like 90 volts!

    Yeah, I didn’t have a landline phone at home as a kid, but I was still stupid and curious enough to lick the phone wires at a friend’s house out of curiosity.

    Note to self, don’t lick random wires… 💀

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    • GhostPain@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You sir are not allowed around AM radio towers! lol

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      • over_clox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I only learned my lesson three five times, never again!

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• Skullkid@lemmy.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  When I get a second phone call and answer it, it puts my current phone call on hold. It then has an option on the screen to switch between calls, along with a button that I think merges the calls? Never tried that one. When I hang up on the second call, it switches me back to the first call automatically. I’ve never heard it called “call waiting” before so I’m not sure if this is what you’re referring to or not, though…

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  • over_clox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I think that was what they originally called it, Call Waiting, back in the landline phone days. I just never had a landline phone, my late father was too paranoid to ever get a phone installed, so I basically started cutting my phone teeth on cell phones around age 33…

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    • Skullkid@lemmy.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Haha this is kinda hilarious. I’m in my late 20s and, reading your comment, I’m like “oh man I can’t imagine skipping over landlines and going straight to cell phones, is that really a thing?” And then I realized that, yeah, a majority of the people younger than me probably did exactly that. But I also still consider the Wii a “new” game console, so I might just be frozen in time or something…

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      • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        But I also still consider the Wii a “new” game console

        Because it is. It only came out…

        does the math

        …whoa. When did my hair go grey? When did nazis infiltrate the government???

        Jesus christ!!! How long was my nap???

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      • over_clox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Nah, most everyone had landline phones back in the 90s, it was more or less just my stubborn and paranoid dad that refused to get one.

        But yeah, shit happens 🤷

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• AngryishHumanoid@lemmynsfw.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So what happens is you push a button to switch to the new call. The call you were on goes on hold. Then you can switch back to the first call and the second call is put on hold. You can keep switching back and forth as much as you want. And last, you have an option to bring BOTH calls on the line at the same time.

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