Old Phones Are Missed

The Jan. 1 story about the Balkanization of America’s telephone system (“Consumers Pay Toll for Bell Breakup”) failed to mention another--perhaps unanticipated--consequence of the breakup.

Making consumers responsible for procuring their own hardware transformed the telephone equipment business into just another arm of consumer electronics--a field already dominated by Asian suppliers. They responded by flooding the market with cheap, low-quality phones, effectively driving U.S. manufacturers out of business, with the loss of a great many American jobs.

The irony is that most people were pretty happy with their old Bell telephones, which may have lacked gee-whiz features but at least were substantial enough that they didn’t slide off the table when you picked up the handset. Unfortunately, you can’t buy one of these any more.

GAINER R. LEWIS

Hollywood