Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: I'm glad to see the back of public payphones

Do you know what I'm not going to miss? Public payphones. 

Spark has finally reached the end of the road. They've made the decision to rip 90% of these public payphones out of the ground. 

They tried to save them. They tried to talk Auckland Council into a deal where they could modernise the payphones in Auckland and operate them on behalf of the public. In exchange, Spark would have been allowed to run digital advertising on the sides of the phones. 

But Auckland Council said no and for good reason. The council already operates its own digital billboards and these phones would have eaten into that revenue stream. So the answer was no. 

The government didn't step in to change anything, and now the phones are simply too expensive for Spark to maintain in their current form. The copper wiring has been removed, so they're going to go. 

And I'm happy to see the back of them because I can't tell you the last time I used a payphone, or even saw one being used. In fact, I don't believe anyone uses them anymore, even in an emergency. 

Surely you'd be more likely to ask the nearest person, who would almost certainly have a cellphone you could use, than run a kilometre down the road looking for a payphone. 

All they are now is visual clutter. They're often tagged, vandalised, or broken. The handset is hanging off the cradle, the glass panels are scratched, and they generally look neglected. And all of that would still be true if they were upgraded, right? They'd look great for five minutes, and then somebody would come along and write "Limp" on one or something. 

And then you'd have to look at the advertising screens on the side. 

Personally, I'm not gagging to see more moving billboards in an urban environment. There are parts of Auckland that would be beautiful if there weren't digital billboards constantly changing and flashing at me. 

So, to me, this doesn't feel like a sad end to an era. 

If there's 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?