They were once a modern miracle. No longer did you have to have a pocketful of coins to make a phone call. Instead, you could reach for the magic card.


Every day in the UK, the Meteorological Office issues four weather forecasts for people in boats. Lots of people not in boats listen to the Shipping Forecast, too. So, when you propose changing it, the result is outcry.

Phone numbers you had to remember

Nowadays, we have subcontracted out the memorising of numbers to our devices, not our brains. You used to have to know someone’s number to be able to dial it, or look it up in a phone directory or the soon-to-be extinct Yellow Pages.