AP Technology Pay Phones Suffer As Cell Phone Use Rises
> By SAMANTHA GROSS
> Associated Press Writer
> NEW YORK -- A stroll along Ninth Avenue in Manhattan reveals an ugly
> picture of the state of the pay phone these days. The phones are
> sticky, beat up and scarred, and some don't work at all. A child's
> change purse is stuffed on one phone ledge, along with a large wad of
> wrapping plastic. On a nearby ledge, an empty bottle of tequila sits
> in front of a hole that once held a phone. Empty cans of malt liquor
> sheathed in brown paper bags are a frequent sight.
Is it really any wonder that pay phones are not used at all except by poor people and the few that don't have a cell phone? The pay phone vendors brought it on themselves. When the pay phone vendors charge
50 cents for a local call and charge $1.50 for local directory assistance and not provide any paper directory is it any wonder that someone would choose to find other means to make calls? My local super market completely ripped out all pay phones explaining that it was just an invitation for drug dealers to use them.