I often heard similar comments from my parents when I was in high school. Instead of going out at night with my friends, I would stay home and rip apart 1A1 KTUs and rewire them using my own circuit design. They usually didn't end up working, but it was interesting to me to see how they worked. They just couldn't understand how something like this could possibly be interesting. Once I pointed out that my grandfather still messed with model trains, they backed off.

Today, they aren't quite as critical of my interest in real phone systems. This is largely due to the fact that they've all succumbed to the allure of cell phones, their high cost and poor quality.

Ed Vaughn, MBSWWYPBX