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Re:Introduction to the Dial Telephone (1936) [video] by DyslexicAtheist on Thursday February 04, 2016 @08:03AM (#11033646)
later versions contained an Easter egg: If you dialled a certain number you could listen to a voice announcing the time.

This eventually became so popular that it was eventually implemented as an official feature.

Also this eventually inspired David L. Mills to come up with the initial design of the NTP protocol.

OK I'll see myself out ...

Re:Introduction to the Dial Telephone (1936) [video] by rootbear on Thursday February 04, 2016 @04:51PM (#11037561)
In the US, the voice would say "At the tone, the time will be 12:23 and 40 seconds ... BEEP!"

But in the UK it was "At the third stroke, the time will be 12:23 and 40 seconds ... beep! beep! beeeep!"

I like the UK version because you can get into the rhythm, like when a music conductor counts beats before an entrance. It would be interesting to know if anyone had done a study to see if the UK version produced better results.

A local radio music show in the 70's edited the US version for their intro into "At the time the tone will be 1 .. 2 .. 1 2 3 4" <music starts>.

Re:Introduction to the Dial Telephone (1936) [video] by joezydeco on Thursday February 04, 2016 @11:29PM (#11039444)
OMD's "Time Zones" from Dazzle Ships used a number of various telephone-time recordings from different countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwx8A0XUpfM

Re:Introduction to the Dial Telephone (1936) [video] by imglorp on Thursday February 04, 2016 @08:15AM (#11033686)
It was often TIM(e)-1212 in many exchanges. Good fun for kids in pre-electronic days.

Here's more details from AT&T about the service. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/29/business/fi-lazarus2...