The rise of generative AI — and ChatGPT in particular — has raised a lot of alarm bells in some industries worried that the technology could make many humans’ jobs obsolete. And those concerns are ...

Mike Lazer-Walker has repurposed a 1927 Western Electric 551-A switchboard into a hectic game that tasks players with quickly learning the obsolete job. “Hello, Operator!,” although controlled by a ...

In 1991, in a small farming town 15 miles west of Fresno, California, the last hand-operated telephone switchboard in the US went automatic. The moment completed what can now be understood as a ...

A telephone switchboard and its operator in 1935. (Source: Library of Congress) During his 77 years, Dennis Hall has seen a lot of changes in rural communications. More than that, he’s lived those ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how people communicate at work: Nearly half of people videoconference more, 43% email more, 42% call more, and 41% text more than before the pandemic, ...