linknyc – The Payphone Project

Video Payphones: Are We There Yet?

the payphone project — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 02:24:38 +0000

The Picturephone scene from 2001 A Space Odyssey, released in 1968, shows what Stanley Kubrick thought payphones would look like a mere 33 years into the future. Kubrick’s payphone of the future not only made phone calls but showed full video of both parties.

Rare Sighting: Payphone Repairman

the payphone project — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:31:57 +0000

I spotted something rare. A public pay telephone repairman at work, keeping New York City's payphones safe and sanitary.

Talking on the Telebeam — But For How Much Longer?

the payphone project — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 20:17:52 +0000

People still use payphones. I spotted this woman talking on a Telebeam payphone today. Telebeam's continued existence, however, may be short-lived, as the CityBridge monopoly inches closer to putting the company out of business.

Another Classy LinkNYC Customer

the payphone project — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 18:15:17 +0000

With about 300 of an expected 10,000 units installed and activated the rollout of LinkNYC is starting to feel like a slow-moving plague of technological "Smart City" pollution.

LinkNYC’s GSOD, and the Infrastructure Underneath.

the payphone project — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 19:38:45 +0000

If this kind of infrastructure interests you then feast your eyes on the underlying foundation of a LinkNYC device. Links are replacing outdoor public pay telephones throughout New York, with the promise from CityBridge (the company that makes them) that they would use elements of the payphones' pre-existing infrastructure.

The Missing Links: What Will They Really Look Like?

the payphone project — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 15:00:27 +0000

Let me be the first to say it: Citybridge's Link devices look pretty flippin' ugly. Thousands of these hulkish, intrusive slabs of advertising, should they actually invade city streets in such quantities as promised, would make today's payphone enclosures look inconspicuous and even charming by comparison.

Citybridge Rising: The Missing Links

the payphone project — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 23:20:44 +0000

Citybridge, the consortium of telecom and advertising companies awarded a monopoly franchise to replace New York City’s outdoor public pay telephones with multipurpose “Links”, has taken its first concrete steps in establishing itself as king of the curbside payphone. One by one the company has placed Citybridge-branded informational placards on hundreds, perhaps thousands of payphones…