Good morning. At the tone, Pacific Daylight Time will be ... something you're going to have to find on your own.
As of Sept. 19, dialing [POPCORN] to get the correct time in California will no longer work, the service a victim of outdated modes, advancing technology and declining use.
California and Nevada are the last states where AT&T provides the free service, and by October, only Nevada will be left, said John Britton, a company spokesman.
Electronic telephone equipment that automatically conveys the time to callers is breaking down and can no longer be fixed or replaced.
The proliferation of household sources for the correct time, such as computers, cell phones and televisions, has diminished the need for the time number, Britton said. Calls through the trunk lines for the time service take up as little as 8 percent of the capacity.
"It's not like it was in 1929," Britton said.
That year, as a public service, the forerunner of AT&T initiated time service in California. An operator read the time off wall clocks to callers.
Soon after, equipment came along that automatically answered and dispensed the time and, in some locations, the temperature. Basically, a light scanned film strips in revolving "drums" that read the correct synchronized segments of the recording.
By discontinuing the time calls in California, the phone company will gain 300,000 new telephone numbers previously reserved for the service. The 767 or POP in Northern California is generally followed by 2676 or CORN, but any four numbers dialed after the 767 will connect to the time service, Britton said.
After Sept. 19, a message saying the service is no longer available will play for one year on any number with the 767 prefix.
M.S. Enkoji - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer
As of Sept. 19, dialing [POPCORN] to get the correct time in California will no longer work, the service a victim of outdated modes, advancing technology and declining use.
California and Nevada are the last states where AT&T provides the free service, and by October, only Nevada will be left, said John Britton, a company spokesman.
Electronic telephone equipment that automatically conveys the time to callers is breaking down and can no longer be fixed or replaced.
The proliferation of household sources for the correct time, such as computers, cell phones and televisions, has diminished the need for the time number, Britton said. Calls through the trunk lines for the time service take up as little as 8 percent of the capacity.
"It's not like it was in 1929," Britton said.
That year, as a public service, the forerunner of AT&T initiated time service in California. An operator read the time off wall clocks to callers.
Soon after, equipment came along that automatically answered and dispensed the time and, in some locations, the temperature. Basically, a light scanned film strips in revolving "drums" that read the correct synchronized segments of the recording.
By discontinuing the time calls in California, the phone company will gain 300,000 new telephone numbers previously reserved for the service. The 767 or POP in Northern California is generally followed by 2676 or CORN, but any four numbers dialed after the 767 will connect to the time service, Britton said.
After Sept. 19, a message saying the service is no longer available will play for one year on any number with the 767 prefix.
M.S. Enkoji - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer
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