Summer Research

THE THE CONCEPT CONCEPT For this research brief i have decided to come up with a common link between my chosen object, place, activity, opinion and concept. This common link is to focus on things that were once good/useful and that are now obsolete due to technological or social advances, for example the floppy disk. This research will be based around things that are good at being obsolete

EXAMPLE The cassette began being mass-produced in 1960, and by the 70’s there had been sold over 85million units. The quality of cassettes only improved through the 80’s and thus sales increased. With Philips being the market leader. The Cassette was the biggest competitor to the LP through out the years. However with the introduction of Cd’s in the 90’s the cassette became obsolete.

THE THE PHONE PHONE BOX BOX Perhaps the most commonly seen piece of obsolete technology from the past is the phone box. Why is it good? Since the 90’s the use of the phone box has been in Sharpe decline, due to the mobile phone boom, In the 70 and 80’s the phone box was used on a daily basis by 55% of British adults. It’s now less than 1%.

Showing how obsolete the technology is becoming.

ALTERNATIVES ALTERNATIVES Other reasons for the phone box being good, is that although the technology is obsolete alternative usages are beginning to arise, for example in Somerset the UK’s smallest library in Somerset. Greengrocers, even 30 phone boxes now have sockets to charge electrical cars. As well as the more common Wi-Fi area on cities.

FACTS FACTS Here are some facts showing the phone boxes are becoming increasingly obsolete Since 2002 BT have got rid of 31,000 Phone Boxes There are 70 million mobile phones in the UK 61,700 payphones remain in the UK, 100 are profitable

DESIGN DESIGN The first phone Box was mass-produced in 1924 and was called the k1 with the last design in 1960, the k8, with several iconic redesigns in between. The red phone box is ranked second in England’s most recognizable sights, which can only be good at adding to tourist interest in the country, Buckingham Palace is ranked fourth.

QUESTIONNAIRE The result of the questionnaire were conclusive only one person out of the 50 people asked used a phone box more that 5 times a year. However is was the younger generation which used a phone box more on average, with only 9 out of the 23 under 18’s asked never used a pay phone. Also 13 people believe with should get rid of the pay phone