Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: I'm not going to miss public payphones

Do you know what I am not going to miss? Public pay phones. Spark has finally reached the end of the road. They have made the decision they're going to rip 90% of these public pay phones out of the ground. They tried to save them. They tried to talk Auckland Council into a deal where they could modernise the pay phones in Auckland and then run them on behalf of the public. And in exchange, they would then, this is Spark, they would then be allowed to run digital advertising on the sides of the phones. But Auckland Council said no, and for good reason, which was that Auckland Council already runs its own digital billboards, and these phones would then be cutting Auckland Council's revenue lunch. So it was a no. And then the government didn't step in to change anything about it, and now the phones are too expensive for Spark to keep as is, and they've removed the copper wiring, so they're going to go. And I'm happy to see the back of these phones. I cannot tell you the last time that I used one or saw one being used in front of me, and I do not believe that anybody uses them. Even in an emergency, you would be more likely, wouldn't you, to call out to the nearest person who undoubtedly would have a cell phone for you to use than to run a K down the road to find the local pay phone. All they are is visual clutter. They're often tagged, they're often vandalised, they're broken, the phone is hanging down off the cradle, there are scratches on the glass sides. All of that... would still be the case if they were upgraded. It would be upgraded for five minutes and somebody would come along and write limp on it or something. And then you'd have to look at the billboards on the side. Personally, I am not gagging to see more moving billboards in an urban environment. There are parts of Auckland City that I think would be beautiful if there wasn't a digital billboard always changing and flashing at me. So it seems to me like it's not an unhappy end of an era. If there is a payphone near you, Pay your last respects. Lay some flowers. Take a photo. Maybe so you can tell the kids in years to come what that thing once was and what you did with it. And then say goodbye to a technology that has definitely had its day, hasn't it?