I voted ‘never heard of it’, even though I’m way past being a kid. Then, when I read the actual question, I realised I did know what the OP was talking about but that I’d only heard of it as being ‘light up the switchboard’.
Yeah, I’m old.
This.
I thought of PBS pledge drives. Yes, the phones light up in the way the OP described, but it’s not an “office” situation, and it definitely implies many simultaneous calls to the same location, due to some excitement (usually, for me, an excited desire to donate to public television in exchange for a lovely tote bag).
I must be old as I understand switchboards lighting up but not phones. Strangely, I have never seen a switchboard in real life but I have seen multiline phones.
I don’t believe “lighting up the phones” is a thing, and Google seems to confirm.
“Lighting up the switchboard” has always seemed so obvious that the idea of people not getting it, or there being any kind of generational divide, is a little strange to me.
I hadn’t thought of that, but it makes perfect sense.
Why do they call this thing a radio button? That doesn’t make sense.
Hey, you 3D printed a save icon, kewl.
I’m 40 and I’m old.
I’m 28 - I knew what you meant, although I’ve heard it much more with the word switchboard than phones. I don’t know specifically why I know this, but I do remember it mostly from radio. I listened to a lot of radio though, and was a Saturday Night Call-In Request show addict with my local station. I called in at least once a night and made a request (most likely at about 9-10 years old). I also watched a lot of old television as a kid, so it is likely I heard it there also.
Yeah, even on the PBS pledge drives, you’d more often hear something like “the phones are ringing off the hooks!”. But I’m pretty sure I recall “let’s light up those phones!” Or or the like being said a few times. Certainly, they made sure the peer pressure was both aural (sounds of phones ringing) and visual (the lights the OP is referring to).
I’m 33 and had no idea what the OP was talking about just from the title. But after reading the explanation I think he’s the one who’s got it all mixed up. “Lighting Up the Phones” is not a phrase that you’d use in an office context. It’s for, as others said, radio contests or PBS pledge drives or the like.
Plus, the phrase is actually “The phones are lighting up!” So I think I (and everyone else that didn’t get it) deserve a pass.
I’m 30 and also thought of the rows of people in the back of PBS pledge drives.
I’ve always wondered why those were called radio buttons. I never heard that term until I dabbled in a little VBasic (a looong time ago). Anyways, I just looked it up, the wiki page mentioned that it’s called that because those buttons work like old radios, like these, where if you push one button, the other one pops back out. Makes sense, I’ve used radios like these, I just never put 2 and 2 together.
Yeah, I got asked that question by a new hire straight out of college. Had to explain how old radios worked. She looked at me like I was talking about banging rocks together to make fire.
I haven’t been asked about the save icon yet, but it’s just a matter of time.
I associate it with telethons–like Jerry Lewis’ Muscular Dystrophy telethon.
I wasn’t sure what you meant by that so I googled it and found this…then I still had to think about it…now I got it.
FTR, I’ve had thousands of 3.5" (and 5.25") floppies, it’s just the way you phrased it, it wasn’t clicking for me.
I think most big box retailers still use multi-line sytems and all their phones show lines in use by being lit. I haven’t worked retail in over a decade but but we often commented during busy days on how our phones were lit up.
I love that the thread title calls us the “current” generation. It’s about time you 40-something fogeys realized we’re all just waiting for you to die.
I’ll be honest. I don’t see the resemblance to anything on a radio. I even read the etymology, and still don’t really get it. Maybe if they were circular, they’d have something.
Have a look. It’s more about the way they work than what they look like. Old radios had a bunch of preset buttons that would crank the dial right to them when you pressed one, but only one of them could be depressed at a time. When this functionality was used in computer UIs they just called it what that kind of control was always called.
I’m 46 and I had no idea; I think I’ve only seen one of those phones at one workplace.
And if you’re going to put spoilers in the OP, you need to fluff up more the part above the spoiler; it shows when hovering over the thread.
Back in the stone age? As in say 10 minutes ago? Offices still have those.