I figured I’d take a recess from the Thought Industry coverage to say goodbye to
an old device from my audio labs that recently turned up during a basement cleaning. The little guy pictured above is the telephone pickup that I used occasionally in the years between 1988 until perhaps around 1998, by which time I’d upgraded to the much improved model below:

As you can guess, its purpose was to record telephone sound through the mic input of a tape-deck/mixer/audio recorder. The earlier suction-cup model would be affixed to the earpiece of your phone, and would capture conversations pretty well, with a little help from positioning and clarity of signal. The later model was a direct connect thru-put for your phone cord, so the audio signal was top notch. Sure, you could’ve just used the record feature on your answering machine – but these devices allowed you some mobility and spontaneity with a hand held recorder: something every spy should have.

Now, before anyone cries out about the legality of recording phone conversations, let it be known that the ethical concerns always seemed to prohibit a third party from taping (or listening in on) a conversation between other individuals who were unaware that they were being monitored.

For me, this device was a cheap and effective means of recording phone time with girlfriends (and ex-girlfriends) to really review and study what dynamics of personality and communication were at the core of misunderstandings and conflict. To my mind, it seemed irresponsible as a human being to allow emotional unravellings to be lost in the stream of time, vanishing as moments and memories are bound to. To actually hear oneself in the midst of trying to barter with the heart, and struggle for sensibility on the tightrope of insensitivity — that was illuminating and electric in that Socratic manner of self-examination.

Anyway, who needs these things anymore? I sure don’t. Who among us still uses conventional telephones? Which of you is embroiled in romance with anything other than digital means of communication – easily reviewed, deleted…revised, even? Alas, the age of the ‘love letter’ is no more.