The phone is dead! Long live the phone!

Abandoned payphone installation at Broadway Commercial SkyTrain station, Vancouver, BC

Functioning payphone at Broadway Commercial SkyTrain station, Vancouver, BC

Functioning payphone at Broadway Commercial SkyTrain station, Vancouver, BC (Detail)

There was a time when payphones were almost everywhere. On street corners, outside gas stations, at every subway station, and almost every bar and restaurant.

The ubiquity of mobile phones has rendered the payphone "surplus to requirements". As the revenue per phone has dropped, payphones have been removed and maintenance seems to have all but stopped. And of course the many other things that you can do with a cheap mobile phones has not helped the situation.

These two payphones, well two payphone locations,  are at the western entrance to the Commercial Broadway SkyTrain station in Vancouver. One of the two phones was removed long ago and the other has been converted to a "card service only" phone to eliminate the damage due to cash theft attempts.

How long will the remaining payphone last? Based on the number of times I've seen anyone use the payphone (never), I don't give it much time at all.

However, try to find someone under 25 in downtown Vancouver who does not have a mobile phone. Good luck on that quest.